Repentance
by Othiara
Summary: Pete wakes up in a strange motel room with no memories of how he got there. Myka lies dead next to him. Can he find out what happened and fix it? How will everyone react?
1. Chapter 1

Pete's head hurts, and he doesn't want to get up. Then he remembers this kind of headache and disoriented feeling and why he should not be feeling it.

_Oh no,_ he thinks as he rolls over to his left and squints open his eyes. Just as he thought they might, beer bottles litter the floor. That's when he realizes his clothes are gone. He sits up to look around for where they might be and notices Myka lying next to him. She isn't wearing anything either, and she's still asleep.

He's getting a really vibe. "Mykes?" he says as he tries to shake her awake.

He's getting really worried now, and his vibe is only getting worse. "Myka!" His shaking causes the covers to fall away a little from her body, and he can see many cuts and bruises. The cuts look fresh. They're still bleeding.

He gets up as fast as he can under the current circumstances and calls an ambulance. He finds his pants and pulls them on. As an afterthought, he pulls the covers over Myka again and gently pushes her hair out of her face. When he pulls his hand away, it's covered in blood. As he looks closer, he can see lots of red tangling her curly brown hair, and bits of broken glass are scattered across her scalp. Someone broke a bottle over her head.

She's cold. _Why is she so cold?_ He's freaking out now because he _couldn't_ have killed his partner. No. He would never do that. The placement of some of the bruises and, well, the fact that neither of them are clothed indicates rape as well, and that nearly breaks him because he wants to hurt the bastard that did this, but it might be him and that does not compute.

_No. A thousand times no! I would never do something like that,_ he tries to convince himself. A small voice reminds him of the truth._ Unless you were drunk. Then you'd do all that and more._

And now she's dead, but she _can't_ be dead. He hears the sirens, sees the flashing lights, but they don't register.

The paramedics just confirm what he already knows: she's dead. They look like they pity him. Someone must have called everyone because suddenly people from the morgue are here, (They call her a body, and he tells them she's not a body; she's Myka.) the policemen just want to ask him a couple questions, (He doesn't think he does too well with those, but it's hard to when he thinks he did it, too.) and Artie and Claudia make him feel the worst. Claudia sees Myka, and she screams a horrible scream that seems to go on forever until it turns into a sob. What he wants most in the world (besides Myka) is to be able to protect his little sister, but he can't see how.

Artie is quiet. That almost scares him as much as Claudia's scream. After a whole lot of silence, he walks up to Pete.

"Go home," he says. His voice is hard and cold and emotionless. Home is the last place Pete would want to go; Leena's will be too quiet without Claudia and Myka, and he doesn't know if he can ever sleep again. He doesn't no, though; after everything he's put them through, he needs to be cooperative.

"Are you sure it's safe?" he asks while gesturing at the empty bottles scattered on the hotel room floor.

Artie's eyes follow Pete's gestures. "Call a cab. We'll have your car towed." Pete nods. He knows that will cost a lot of money, but he's beyond caring.

The taxi ride all the way to the B&B does cost a lot of money, the kind of money Pete doesn't keep in his pocket, and Leena has to bail him out. He adds it to the list of things he's done wrong tonight.

Leena tells him to go to sleep even though it's nearly sunrise and he won't be able to fall asleep. She looks surprised when he complies without a word of complaint. He doesn't deserve this family, and he definitely doesn't deserve their kindness. The least he can do is play nice. Leena's penetrating eyes look him over, and he can sense her pity.

He climbs into bed but doesn't sleep. He can't get the image of her lying there cold and dead because of him out of his head.

.:.

Leena's family is breaking apart, and that scares her. Sure, it's not the only family she's had; it's not even the only Warehouse family she's had, but that doesn't make it easier. Hearing Claudia's shock and disbelief and seeing Artie trying to contain his own grief long enough to help Claudia with hers nearly breaks her. When Claudia comes to the B&B just before they leave for the crime scene, her aura is everywhere. It has the colors of sorrow, confusion, pain, grief, and anger. Anger and grief overpower all the others, tinting them black with anger and faded hazel with grief.

They only talk for a short while, but Claudia's intensity surprises Leena. As they talk, her anger becomes even more prominent, making her aura much darker until you can see almost none of the other colors. It's her driving force, but it's blinding her. Leena hates her new smile, which doesn't quite reach her eyes.

"He's going to pay. He deserves to," she says, and Leena isn't sure how to respond. Yes, of course anyone who hurts someone in her family deserves to pay, but what about when it's Pete? He deserves something, but not what Claudia is planning with her vision clouded by anger. She keeps quiet and lets Claudia and Artie go on to the site. She doesn't follow. Seeing the body - even thinking of Myka that way makes her feel sick - is not her idea of fun, as she tells Artie.

When he sends Pete her way, she's not surprised. Artie doesn't want to talk to him, but he does want him back at the Warehouse.

Her first thought when she sees him is that he's the same. Sure, he's filled with guilt and shock and grief, but that's to be expected. She had thought that there would be something different about him because her Pete wouldn't do something like this, but there isn't.

She feels like she sends him off to bed too abruptly and he agrees too quickly, but she needs time to think without the swirling ribbons of color that flow around him and everyone else she's ever known.

She tries to calm down and steady herself by making tea. She turns on the water. Making tea works the same as cooking does; the predictable recipes are therapeutic. The second she sits down with her tea, which is peach-flavored, Myka's favorite, her thoughts and worries and fears take her over again.

She is relieved when the door opening interrupts her thinking. Claudia comes in loudly; it's obvious that she doesn't care if anyone is trying to sleep. Anger still shrouds over everything else she's feeling, but some new colors have been thrown into the mix, including the ones for disgust and purpose. If she notices Leena, she doesn't acknowledge her. Leena watches the young redhead drop her bag in a chair and walk up the steps. She leaves the door open, and once she's gone, Leena walks over to shut the door. Artie comes in before she can.

"Artie," she says to get his attention. She shuts the door quietly.

He turns when she speaks his name. "What?"

"Claudia, she's...how's she dealing with all this?"

"Surprisingly well, considering the circumstances," he replies. "She's been through a lot tonight. Why, can see something different in her aura?"

She's surprised at how quickly he sees through her concern. "She's angry, Artie. Really angry."

"Does she have a reason not to be? Anger is a part of grief."

"Not angry like that. That's unfocused and very different from what she has. Her rage is calculated, like she's planning something."

He frowns. "Thanks for telling me. I'll keep her away from Pete and give her a couple days to cool off."

"Of course. And what about you?"

"You know what? I was thinking about getting a little sleep." She smiles at his predictable unwillingness to talk about himself.

"Good. Sleep well. I think I'm going to turn in, too," Leena says while faking a yawn. Both climb the stairs to their room, but neither think they'll be getting any sleep.

.:.

When Claudia gets upstairs, she promptly goes into the bathroom and throws up. She used to share this bathroom with Myka, and Myka's hair products and other things are still there. Claudia sits back and sobs. A bottle of conditioner should not have this kind of effect on her, but she's had a long night, and her best friend is dead. Pete will *pay.*

She knows what she has to do. She's bringing Myka back. All she has to do is find the right artifact. She knows she can do the search without Artie finding out.

She'll bring her older sister back at any price, just like she brought back her older brother. Pete will pay for his sins. Things will be as they should be.

.:.

Artie lies awake in bed. It's always hard to lose family. Losing people again and again does not make it any easier; in fact, it might just make it harder. He tried to cut himself off so it wouldn't hurt so much when something like this inevitably happens. He can't imagine how he would survive if it had been Claudia instead of Myka, and he realizes how much he's been failing at cutting himself off. He feels suddenly vulnerable and clutches his bed covers tighter.

Myka was a good agent, one of the best. She was observant and had a keen eye for details no one else would have picked up on. She is gone now, though, and there will be time to grieve after they get Pete out of his current predicament. The police had seen him on the scene of the crime and talked to him, so there's a connection. He doesn't want to lose two agents so quickly, and he certainly doesn't want any replacements just yet. He's never hoped more in his life for someone to be affected by an artifact. If Pete wasn't affected, he might be seriously dangerous, and Artie certainly doesn't want to lose yet another Warehouse agent because of his own recklessness. He resolves to ask Leena about Pete's aura in the morning.

.:.

Leena lied. She doesn't go to bed. Instead, she makes breakfast. Admittedly, it's more what she classifies as late night than early morning, but it's right on the boundary. They can warm it up in the morning. It takes her mind off things until she realizes she's been making Pete's favorite breakfast, just like she made Myka's favorite tea, and then she finally breaks down. Tears slide down her face even as she tries to brush them away, and eventually, she stops fighting it. She falls to the ground and lets the tears fall.

She's not sure exactly how long she's on the floor, but she finally gets up and washes off her face. She looks around the kitchen, which looks like a tornado passed through since she only got halfway through breakfast. She turns the oven off so it won't set off the smoke alarm and goes to her room to try and get some sleep.

.:.

Pete is overcome with guilt. He hears Artie and Claudia come in, but he's too ashamed to go down or do anything else. They head to bed soon enough anyway. He hears Claudia throw up in the bathroom and can't imagine how hard this has been for her.

He doesn't remember it, any of it. He was working on a case with her. Everything was about as normal as it could get when he works in a mystical warehouse. They were about to crack the case wide open.

Then there was waking up and everything else. He doesn't remember what led up to that moment or what case they were working on. He can get the latter from Artie in the morning, but he might never know the former. He's going to try to figure it out, though.

He'll do anything to get her back. She was his partner and so much more. He never got a chance to say all the things he wanted to. It's his fault she died. The least he can do is try to right his wrongs.


	2. Chapter 2

Artie has lived at the bed and breakfast for many years and has only rarely seen it disorderly. The mess he sees when he walks downstairs in the morning is second only to when Pete tried to make cookies. He wonders if Pete did it this time too. Pete looks just as surprised as Artie when he follows him downstairs a couple minutes later, though, and Artie feels like the agent will have accusations thrown at him enough times over the next while that he doesn't need to add to it.

Artie turns around to face the stairs. "Leena!" he yells. Claudia is the first one to come down, but Leena follows shortly after.

"Oh yes, this," Leena mutters as she grabs some things to clean up the kitchen with.

Claudia gives her an incredulous look. "Wait, you mean you did this?"

"Yes, last night. I was trying to make breakfast," she says as she cleans some pancake batter off of the oven.

"Epic fail." Leena shot Claudia a glare. "Alright, I'm done. What are we doing today?"

Artie clears his throat. "Well, the police want Pete back. They might want to keep him there, at least for a couple nights. Claudia, you'll be taking inventory with me in the warehouse, and it looks like Leena has her hands full here." They all nod. They might not want to hear about Pete's situation, but they have to get what's going on.

.:.

Pete's car hasn't showed up in Univille yet, so he takes Myka's, which is still parked at the B&B, to the station where they'll be questioning him again. He goes in and wonders if they'll take points off because he's driving the victim's car.

"Mr. Lattimer?" one of the officers asks.

"Agent Lattimer, actually," he corrects automatically, and at the officer's gaze, he pulls out the badge to prove it. The officer examines it.

"This is expired," he notes. "Impersonating a federal agent is a crime. I could have you locked up right now." Pete is not liking the way this is going. He's barely been in the building a full minute, and they're already threatening to arrest him. Pete's been in many different police stations before, under many different circumstances. Since his addiction, he's been on the other side of the interrogation. During his addiction, he had never done anything this awful, but he might have if he hadn't stopped drinking.

More recently, he's gotten used to being on the right side of the bars again, and this feels like the opposite of progress. He supposes it should; he fell back on his addiction, and it's the worst mistake he's ever made in his life. Maybe he deserves to be locked up.

A man and a woman come in to interrogate him. The man is hardly over 5 feet and bald, but he looks young enough. A small wave as he sits down tells Pete that he's going to be the nice one. The woman is much taller, at least 6 feet, and her hair is long and blonde. Her eyes betray no mercy, and she smiles a smile that isn't real and means they should get down to business. She reminds him of Myka before he got to know her.

"I'm Agent Sintez, and this is Agent Vorinto. We'd like you to answer a few questions for us," the woman says.

"Sure," he responds in what he hopes is a nonchalant voice.

"Good. Can you tell me what you where doing the night before you found Miss Bering?" begins Agent Sintez.

He considers lying, but he's never been very good at deceiving people. They would be able to see right through him. "No."

Agent Vorinto looks a little confused. "Why not?"

"Don't remember any of it. I was working with her in the afternoon, and the next thing I remember is finding her."

"What were you working on?" Agent Vorinto asks.

"We were partners in a little-known branch of the Secret Service. We had a case," Pete explains.

Agent Sintez gestures for him to go on, and when he doesn't, she asks, "What was the case?"

He looks down at the floor. "I can't remember."

Her mouth forms a thin line. "I think that's all we'll be needing," she says, and he can tell he failed and they think he's full of shit, and he doesn't blame them.

He nods, and the agents leave. A police officer tells him that he'll be kept overnight but moved to and tried at a maximum security national prison in Washington D.C.

_Well, that's sure to make for an awkward visit._

.:.

On most days, Claudia would whine about having to do inventory. She would spend more hours complaining to Artie about it than actually doing it. Today, however, isn't like most days, and Claudia can't wait to start her inventory work.

It's only on days that she's doing inventory that she can freely explore the artifacts, and that will help her in her hunt. Wandering aimlessly through a warehouse miles across won't bring Myka back, though. She wants to do a search for resurrection artifacts first, so she hopes Artie won't be there to look over her shoulder.

He heads off to work, and she follows a couple minutes after. She wanders the aisles and finds the one she's supposed to start with.

She can't think of anything to start thinking about; she doesn't know that she's seen any artifacts that can bring people back to life. She thinks she may have seen one that can keep people alive, but they have to start wearing it before they die, so that won't help. She walks over to the terminals she's installed on the ends of many of the rows, including this one. They aren't really made to search for artifacts; they're more for detecting artifact disturbances, but they can also search. She types in her keywords.

A search for resurrection artifacts brings up a couple things. A necklace that will bring back ghosts that only you can see of loved ones you've lost recently in return for sapping your own life force. No. A bullet that could bring someone back as a zombie. Definitely not. A ring that makes the dead possess your body. No. A pin that makes the dead settle their scores with the living by projecting themselves into this world. No. A bracelet that can sap the life force of the living and give it to someone dead. No. _Wait, that might work._

Suddenly, Claudia knows exactly how Pete should be made to pay for his sins. A life for a life, and he had taken hers. _It's poetic, really, _she thinks. He can't disagree when it's all his fault in the first place. Now all she has to do is get him back to the Warehouse and gather up the artifact. She writes down where the artifact is kept and decides to get it later today. She finishes her inventory with a song in her heart. She has a purpose now, and so does he.

.:.

Pete sits in the cold cell for hours. He's actively trying not to talk to any of the other people there. This prison - or any prison - is not the kind of place he wants friends. Some officers are talking across the station from him, and they occasionally glance his way until one of them comes up.

"You're free to go," he announces.

Pete can imagine the answer, but he asks the question anyway. "Why?"

The officer shrugs. "Orders of someone by the name of Mrs. Frederic."

Pete nods. "Okay." He is escorted out of the building by the officer who came up to him and a few others. He drives back to the B&B.

Leena is almost done cleaning up. She jumps a little when he comes in. "I wasn't expecting anyone for a while," she explains.

"I wasn't expecting to be back for a while," he says. "Mrs. Frederic got me out."

"Oh," Leena says.

"And don't make me regret it, Agent Lattimer. I want you to take a break from field work for a while." Pete and Leena both jump; neither of them had noticed Mrs. Frederic come in. Pete turns away for a second.

"Yeah, well," he looks back at Mrs. Frederic, and she isn't there. "That's so creepy." Leena nods in agreement. "Well, I think I'm going to head to the warehouse."

Leena doesn't reply, still busy cleaning, though she's now moved on from the kitchen to the rest of the bed and breakfast.

.:.

Pete is put on inventory duty about as far away as possible from where Claudia is.

"She needs time, Pete," Artie explains, "particularly time away from you." Then he turns back to his desk and whatever he was working on, and Pete goes down to where he has to check for missing artifacts. He supposes he's as ready as he's ever been to spend the day on this mindless task.

.:.

Claudia finishes her inventory quickly, and Pete comes in just in time. He's distracting Artie, and Claudia takes the opportunity to go across the warehouse to where the bracelet is kept. By some horrible curse of fate, the aisle Pete has to do inventory in is the aisle that her artifact is kept in. If he notices it's gone, she'll be caught. To add to that scenario, she doesn't find out that he's placed in that aisle until he comes in when she's in the middle of grabbing the artifact.

"Hi," she sort of mumbles and fakes a smile. He looks surprised to see her.

"What are you doing?" he asks. She's not going to tell him here.

"I'll tell you later. _Don't _tell Artie," she instructs, then runs for the hills, the bracelet still in her purple-gloved hands.

.:.

Pete wonders what artifact Claudia was taking. He thinks he saw some sort of rope bracelet. It seems like Artie was wrong about Claudia needing time. She's on her feet running around the warehouse breaking the rules within a day of everything. He's worried about her, though. His Claudia would never take an artifact like that, especially not a harmful one, and according to the description, which he checks, this one can kill people. But he knows exactly what she wants from it.

He'll never let Claudia trade her life for Myka's; it isn't her fault Myka's dead. It's his. Claudia might be on to something, though. Myka deserves to live, and he doesn't because he's a drunk and a killer and it's his fault she's dead.

He doesn't want to lose Claudia's trust, and he definitely doesn't want her to try it on her own, so he won't tell Artie a thing about their little encounter or the rope bracelet missing from the shelves where he's taking inventory.

.:.

Nothing happens for the rest of the day. Pete sits at dinner, quietly poking at his food, and no one says anything except for Leena grumbling that they still have to eat at the end. Everyone's trying to make things okay, but they're failing miserably. He doesn't tell Artie anything about seeing Claudia earlier, and from Claudia's looks, she's happy with him for that.

It's late at night when Claudia comes into his room. Everyone else in the bed and breakfast is sleeping, or at least they're supposed to be. The young redhead comes in wearing only a very large t-shirt that reaches to just above her knees and has something written on it in Spanish and purple gloves, which protect her from the dangerous rope bracelet she holds in her hands.

"You're not going to use that," he says, not bothering to greet her.

"I know. You are," she replies, her voice emotionless, and he knows it's not a question.

"Glad we're on the same page."


	3. Chapter 3

Claudia's haunting smile gets wider. "I knew you would make the right choice." She hesitates. "When do you want to do the honors?"

"Name a day, name a time; I'll be there."

"Good. See you for it tomorrow, then." She leaves the room without another word, no goodbye. He doesn't need one. She's already gone.

He wasn't expecting her to agree so quickly. It hurts him that she's so ready to send him off without a word in exchange for Myka, but he loves to see her smile, even when the smile isn't real and it certainly isn't for him. She seems so sure, like she understands this somehow even when he doesn't, and it's all so simple. He lets himself believe she's right, just for a night. A night is all he needs.

.:.

Claudia loves that things will work out. Everything is going according to plan, and even though it will be hard (much harder than she's letting on) to let go of Pete, she has to. He's been like a brother to her since they met, and she'll hate to see him go. It's how it works, though, or at least how it should work. And she should take every chance she can get to help things to work out the way they should. This is right; it has to be. He killed someone she loves; he dies. It's how it's going to go.

Artie will disagree. That's why he won't be in on their plan, not until it's too late to stop them. It only makes it easier that Pete agrees with her. Artie will like having Myka back, and it doesn't matter if he's mad at her; he's almost always mad at her for something.

The morning approaches slowly but surely, and Claudia's anxious and can't sleep. She wonders if Pete is doing any better and walks across the darkened halls to his room. His door is still open, and she takes that as an invitation to come in. He lies awake in the dark, going through pictures. She lies down next to him in his bed and scrunches up next to him, not caring that she's still only wearing her too-big nightshirt. He looks at her.

"I'm sorry," he says, but she shakes her head.

"Every right will be wronged. Time will go back for us, and we can decide. We can choose her," she says. She can hear calm in her own voice. _That's good. _She has to convince him that everything they're doing is right even if she doesn't entirely believe it herself.

He nods. "I know. And I'll always choose her." She senses there's more that he's not saying. She rolls over onto her side and looks at him. He has pictures scattered across the bed on his other side, and she can see them now. Pictures of her, pictures of their family where people are smiling or looking annoyed or just looking anything but sad. Anything but desperate. She remembers times when she'd forgotten what it felt like to smile. These people had taught her how again, and she's suddenly so scared to lose Pete. Her breathing gets faster, and she can see his pity - no, not pity. Understanding. He gets it.

His hand is on her back. She usually hates touching; bouncing around from foster home to foster home and being in mental hospitals has taught her how much touches can hurt. Right now, tonight, though, it's comforting and slows her breathing to its normal pace.

"Thank you," she whispers.

He looks at her. "You're my like my little sister, Claud. I'm always going to protect you." This breaks her. She can feel her chest rise and fall, and tears run down her cheeks for the second time in two nights. She's very grateful that he's there for her, and she hates that they have to do this. But they have to. It's decided.

.:.

The morning comes too quickly for Claudia's liking, and she sees Artie frown as she comes out of Pete's room, tear tracks almost entirely gone, still in only a big t-shirt. He goes into Pete's room, and she can only imagine the incredibly embarrassing conversation that ensues. She smiles to herself as she steps into her bathroom to shower.

She goes downstairs a couple minutes later smelling more fresh than before and sees that Leena has made breakfast much more successfully this morning.

"Morning," she says groggily to the innkeeper. "Coffee, please?" she asks as she takes a plate of eggs.

"Maybe when you're older," Leena replies, done being extra nice to the young agent. "Stop complaining," she adds as Claudia rolls her eyes. Claudia yawns as Artie makes his way down the stairs. "Good morning, Artie," Leena greets him with a smile and a cup of coffee, and Claudia rolls her eyes.

"So what's the task today, Gramps?"

"More inventory, unless we get a ping. In that case, you'll be going on your first solitary mission. Pete still needs a couple more days off, according to Mrs. Frederic," he says. She hopes they don't get a ping.

"'Kay. Well, I'm going to get a head start. What aisle will I be doing today?"

"D43," Artie replies immediately, and she resists the urge to tease him for knowing off the top of his head. She runs upstairs, presumably to get her coat, really to get the bracelet, and shoves the bracelet in her coat pocket with purple gloves before putting it on.

"Well, see you guys later," she says with a wave. She looks directly at Pete. _See you later. And then not again, _her eyes say. And, if he were to look a little deeper, he would also see, _I'm sorry._

.:.

Artie saw the glance exchanged between Pete and Claudia. It was almost homicidal, like, _If you told him, you're dead. _He wonders if Pete was hiding anything during their little talk. Surprised as he had been to see Claudia coming out of Pete's room barely clothed, he should have expected this. Losing Myka is hard on everyone, especially Claudia, and, being so young, she must not have known what to do. He's more angry with Pete for taking advantage when she was weak. That's very uncharacteristic of him, but then again, he's been acting very uncharacteristically lately.

Well, he'll have to take care of that. Until he can, he's definitely not placing the two anywhere near each other in the warehouse. They both have to do inventory; that's all there is to do, but he'll take special care to keep them apart, though that didn't work yesterday. He can't say anything yet; Claudia doesn't tend to listen to anything he says; it'll make her want to keep going in the opposite direction. He'll keep an extra close eye on them over the next couple of days and see if anything like this happens again.

.:.

Pete finishes his eggs and follows Claudia to the warehouse. He looks at the outside for the last time. It's hard for him and Claudia, being the ones who have to make that impossible decision. One life for another is not a choice to be taken lightly, and they aren't. They both know what they're giving up. He walks into the building without another look. Artie gives him an odd look when he's walked through the umbilicus, and he realizes he was standing out there a bit longer than he should have, and he doesn't care.

"What aisle will I be perusing today?" he asks, enunciating _perusing _especially strongly, finally finding a time to use the word that Myka taught him, but she isn't there to hear him or see his smug smile. He sighs. Artie raises one of his big, bushy eyebrows.

"W36," Artie says, and Pete thinks to where this is. It's on almost the exact opposite side of the warehouse from where Claudia is. He wonders how long he should wait before he heads her way and decides to wait for her to come to him. It'll happen soon enough.

.:.

Claudia doesn't even start her inventory job. She knows she won't be able to concentrate. As far as she can tell, there's no lengthy preparation or, in fact, any preparation at all. Pete just has to touch the bracelet while he's thinking about Myka, which won't be too hard for him to do. She perches on a ladder, looking to see when Pete and Artie show up.

_Why did I have to show up so damn early?_ she thinks. Just then, Artie comes through the door. Pete follows a minute later, and before she knows it, he's heading to a row on the other side of the warehouse. _Showtime._

.:.

Claudia shows up just a minute or two after he got to his row. She pulls on a purple glove and uses it to get the bracelet out of her pocket.

"You ready?" she asks.

"Yeah," he replies.

"Good. You only get one try. Don't waste it." She looks up at him, tries not to cry, and fails horribly. "Goodbye," she says. "All you have to do is think about Myka and touch it. It'll take a minute to work, but it will," she tells Pete with a certainty in her voice. She is certain it will work, and that's what kills her. She sniffles. "Go ahead."

He touches it.

.:.

Artie squints out the window. He could've sworn he just saw Claudia walking through the rows to where Pete is. He's sure it was just his imagination. Still, after last night he should check and see, just to make sure.

.:.

Pete is terrified. His hand is on the bracelet, and he only has minutes, moments left to live. He tries not to focus on that, though. He can't be selfish. If he's not thinking about Myka, it won't work, and he only has one try. He won't waste it.

He can almost see her. Every second, she becomes stronger, less echo, more there. He can feel himself becoming less there with every second, minute, moment that passes. He's terrified, but he won't let her know that because this is the happiest moment he's had since before that morning. He's not going to ruin it. He's going to save her. Until Artie hits him aside and his hand falls off the bracelet and everything is _ruined._

.:.

Artie has been watching this progress from the sidelines for long enough. It's time for him to take action. His agents should know better than to play with artifacts as dangerous as this one. He hits Pete aside, and Pete's hand falls off the bracelet. The shadow, echo of Myka that would have taken Pete's life for her own is gone now, which is as it should be. No matter how much they're missing Myka, it's not right to play God or use an artifact to their benefit.

He sees the horrified look on Pete's face. Before he can grab the artifact, Claudia gets it. Myka's shadow is there again, and he can already see Claudia getting fainter.

"No! Put that down!" he yells. She has to put it back. He wants Myka back, but not at the price of another one of his agents. Not Claudia. Never Claudia.

"Never!" she screams back. Her face is tear-stained, and he hates to see her in this much pain. She hasn't done anything to deserve this. But he's not going to let her destroy herself. She runs, and even when she's grasping the bracelet and trying to think only about Myka, which he can see she's succeeding at from Myka's shadow getting stronger by the second. She doesn't have much time left.

.:.

She's running and running and running because she has to get away from there and because everything rests on her. If Myka stays dead now, it's all her fault. But it won't be all her fault. She's going to save Myka. She can hardly see through the tears, and she falls, falls, falls, and she can never get up again because her hand slipped and it _is _all her fault. Myka's still dead, and it's all her fault. Her heart is in tatters because the bracelet is out of her hand now, and she can't try again, and she hates herself for letting it happen. For letting Myka be dead.

Artie finds her, but he stops walking before he makes it all the way to her. She looks up to him with her miserable eyes and cold stare that she's just about perfected. "Happy now?"

"I'm so sorry, kiddo," he says, and he leans down next to her.

"Not for the right reasons," she responds. She's still crying; she doesn't know if her eyes will ever be dry again. It all hurts too much. She hardly notices when Artie bags the artifact.


	4. Chapter 4

Leena comes to the warehouse bearing lunches for its employees and hears the whole story from Artie. She understands grief and why a person in general would want to use an artifact like that, but Claudia and Pete are her family. She should have noticed something, something she had missed or disregarded. She should have watched closer; they had just lost Myka, after all. But there will be time for should'ves, would'ves, and could'ves once everything is sorted out.

"She's still down there. What should I do?" Artie is fidgeting and nervous.

She gives it a moment of thought. "Have you tried talking to her?"

"Oh, no, she's definitely not in the mood for talking," he says as he restlessly gathers up some stray papers and straightens them.

"I think you'd be surprised. She cares about what you have to say, Artie," Leena tells him.

"She's a teenager, and I just have no idea what I should say."

Leena sighs. "This has nothing to do with her age. You've both lost someone you care about. Relate." After a bit more prodding, he goes down to talk to Claudia, if only to get Leena off his back. She sits back and smiles in self-satisfaction. He hasn't gone without a tradeoff, though. If he talks to Claudia, she has to talk to Pete. She walks down the stairs and to the aisle where Artie said she will find Pete.

.:.

Artie stands just out of Claudia's line of sight. He wants to talk to her, to ease her pain however he can, but these things are rarely easy, and he isn't sure what she wants or expects from him. She had told him he was a "father figure," but that was a while ago. He's not sure where they stand now. Cautiously, he enters the fray.

At first, it seems like she doesn't notice him. He approaches, gaining speed as he gains confidence. When he gets closer, he sees that she isn't crying anymore, just staring at the ground and avoiding his eyes.

"Would it have been worth it?" he asks and immediately regrets it. That wasn't what he was trying to say at all.

She looks surprised too. "I...We weren't thinking about that."

He decides to run with it. She seems to be responding, which is a good sign. "Seems like it might have come up."

She looks up at him for a second, and her eyes are so broken, vulnerable, and lonely. "No, um, we weren't thinking _like_ that. It was more like we were trying to right a wrong. Like we could balance the scales and we had to. It didn't matter what we thought of it. Because he needed her back. Don't you?" She looks at him again, and her eyes shine with unshed tears. He feels so much for the young girl.

"Oh, kiddo," he breathes. "Things don't work like that. We can't play God, and I've already told you enough times not to play with artifacts to know you don't listen, but-"

"Why is saving Myka any different than saving me? Any one of the times I've gotten affected by an artifact, you could have given up on me like you're giving up on Myka now. Or how about saving Joshua?" she interjects. He looks at her with pity. How can she not understand these things?

"It's different," he says, not sure how to explain it.

"How? Explain it to me, Artie. Humor the little girl, right? Make sure she doesn't go over the edge again. Who's making you do this? Leena?" She takes his shocked silence as a yes. "Knew it." She walks off in the opposite direction from where he came, leading her deeper into the warehouse.

"Claudia-" he tries.

"Don't," she stops him without turning back or slowing down.

.:.

Pete is still in the row. He hasn't been able to move, hasn't been able to help, no matter how much he wants to. He was terrified for Claudia. Things weren't supposed to work out like that; there's no justice in Claudia dying for Myka, and his terror stretches beyond when Myka's strengthening echo disappears, though he's surprised at how relieved he is.

Leena makes her way through the surrounding rows to where he sits. "How are you doing?" she asks as she sits down beside him.

"Fine," he answers. It's an automatic thing; he knows that's not really how he feels. From her look, she knows it, too.

"No, I mean really," she says, and he almost smiles. Almost. It used to be so easy to smile, but everything's gotten harder recently.

"I know what you mean."

She looks at him. "Then answer my question." Her voice is filled with a toughness he can't match, not now, not ever. It makes him wish his voice wouldn't crack when he talks.

"I don't know," he says; it's the closest thing to an answer he can find. Answers to any and all of his questions have been elusive recently.

"I think you're handling this badly," she says.

"Thanks," he mutters with a small chuckle.

"That's not what I meant."

"How would you handle it if you killed someone you love but you can't remember it?" he asks, suddenly on the defensive. He doesn't want to talk about this, any of this.

"You love her?" she asks, changing the direction of the conversation.

I-I...That just came out."

"It's good that you finally figured that out." Leena stands.

He looks up at her. "Bit late for that."

She shrugs. "I guess." She holds out her hand to help him up, and he rises to his feet without it. "Come on, let's get back to the office," she says and leads the way there.

.:.

Claudia wanders the aisles of the warehouse aimlessly, knowing full well that that's a very good way to get lost. The warehouse is miles long and miles wide, and it's easy to walk in and not come out for hours. If she wanders far enough in and an artifact affects her, she can die screaming, and no one will hear her. She decides she doesn't care and walks even further into this vast place that used to be so fabulous. Now it just seems like a trap, taking you in and telling you nice things, things you want to hear, and then turning the words back, twisting them, and using you up until you're dead or crazy or evil or something else, but no one ever makes it out of this warehouse alive. She sees that now.

She's careful not to look directly at any of the artifacts she's walking by. Who knows how any of these are triggered? She's not about to take any chances. This place will get rid of her easy enough; she doesn't have to help it by being reckless. She wanders further and further among the "endless wonder," which she is going to believe is really endless, but it doesn't seem so wonderful anymore. It's just another trap, like all her other homes.

.:.

Artie returns to his office alone and finds Leena and Pete already there. He's not sure what he did wrong; he can't think very well today, and he definitely can't get into Claudia's head. Leena already looks worried before he can even get in the office. Once he is, she starts questioning.

"Where is she?" she asks, alarmed. "She's not still down there, is she?"

"She's not in the same place down there, which she did to get away from me. As I said before, I'm very bad at this talking thing."

Leena sighs. "I'll go find her," she says and walks off. Artie's not sure how she expects to find Claudia in such a big building, but he's glad someone else is going to be handling it. She got Pete to listen to her; she's better with people than he ever was.

A small ping comes from the computer, and something pops up. Something appears to be going on in Jayville, a city just a couple of hours away. He takes a closer look. It appears that a man was hospitalized because of an infected dog bite in the middle of a train station where none of the witnesses saw a dog. _Sounds artifacty to me, _he thinks.

Pete is just outside the office, looking down on the shelves of artifacts. Artie walks up to him. "I have a job for you."

.:.

Leena walks through aisle upon aisle. It's beginning to feel like she's never going to find Claudia. Claudia never really took a shine to her anyways; she's not sure how she'll convince the young agent to come back with her. She's going to tackle one problem at a time, though; it doesn't matter if Claudia doesn't want to come back with her if Leena can't find her. Besides, if convincing her doesn't work, Leena brought along a tesla one of the agents left on the desk. That's just a last resort plan, though.

It's starting to be worrying; anything can happen in a building filled to the top with dangerous artifacts. If she doesn't find Claudia soon, something awful might happen. Luckily, there's a ladder nearby. She checks for a label, and since there isn't one, she assumes it's not an artifact. She climbs to the top to see if she can stop Claudia from the high perch. She thinks she sees the girl not too much farther on, and she quickly lowers herself to the ground and follows to where she saw Claudia.

.:.

Claudia turns at the sound of footsteps. She doesn't feel like talking, so she tries walking faster.

"Hey!" Leena calls out and hurries after her. Claudia breaks into a run, just wanting so badly to get away from there and wondering why Leena can't see that, can't read it in her aura.

She turns around and faces the innkeeper with a glower. "What?"

"I'm just trying to help you! It's dangerous in here. We don't have to talk; we should just get back to Artie's office."

"You go ahead. I'll be right behind you," Claudia says and then continues walking off in the opposite direction.

"It's dangerous!" Leena repeats.

Claudia doesn't turn around. "Got that, thanks." Suddenly she feels a shock of electricity. It's like her entire mind is on fire, and she can't feel her legs as they slide out from under her. She thinks she bumped her head, and tiny black specks intrude on the edges of her vision.

.:.

Leena feels guilty. As far as she can tell, Claudia's never been teslaed before, so it might hit extra hard. She might have also just set it too high, and that's why Claudia doesn't get up. Her breathing and everything else is fine, but Leena doesn't know when she'll wake up, and she knows it's safer for her to be in the office or the bed and breakfast than in an aisle where any number of artifacts could prey on the poor unconscious girl.

Leena is reminded of how little upper arm strength she has when she tries to pick up Claudia. Luckily, she remembered to put her cell phone in her pocket that morning. Hopefully, Artie has his somewhere near him, too. She calls and it rings three or four times before he picks up.

"Leena?" he asks like he expects it to be someone else.

"Yes. Listen, I had to use the the tesla on Claudia, and she's unconscious. How should I get her back to the office?"

"You had to...Where did you get a tesla? Never mind, I don't want to know. What row are you in?"

Leena walks to the end of the row and turns back to where Claudia lies. "T30," she answers.

"I'll be right there," Artie says. He hangs up. Leena looks at Claudia. She lies on her face. Leena tries to make her a bit more comfortable by rolling her over onto her back, but the redhead catches her arm in her hand before Leena can touch her.

"Please explain to me how I ended up unconscious on the floor with a killer headache," she commands. Leena gulps. This complicates things.

"Come on, let's just get to Artie's office first. I'll explain things on the way," Leena says. Claudia seems to consider her choices but ends up standing and following Leena in what she's pretty sure is the right direction.

"So. Explain," Claudia repeats once they get on their way.

"Just a second. I have to make a call first." Claudia sighs and throws her arms into the air. Leena pulls out her phone and calls Artie, her number one speed dial.

.:.

Claudia notices something at Leena's belt, not that she was looking for anything there. A tesla is there, and Claudia is almost entirely certain Leena doesn't carry around any weapons, not even ones of the shocking variety. That combined with the headache and Claudia is pretty sure Leena is refraining from telling her something pretty big. She grabs the weapon and points it at Leena. Leena looks shocked and hangs up.

"Did you shoot me?" Claudia asks, though she already knows the answer. She takes Leena's nervous stare the answer she's looking for. "Knew it. Alright, what happened?"

"Um, what do you mean?"

"Why? You have to have a reason."

Leena changes the course of the conversation. "What's the last thing you remember?" she asks.

"Trying to change the subject? Okay, I'll go along with it. Artie just got a call. I couldn't hear what it was about, but he didn't seem to like it," she says, which is true; that _is _the last thing she remembers. From Leena's pained look, something pretty awful must have happened since then. She wonders again what that call was about. "Why? What happened since then?"

"I-I'm sorry I teslaed you, Claudia. I shouldn't have. But yeah, some things have happened since then."

When Leena doesn't go on, Claudia prompts her. "Such as?"

"Well, um, Myka, she-"

"Myka what?" Claudia interjects. She's getting impatient.

"Myka died," Leena says, looking like she's having trouble choking out the words.

"No! I-I don't believe you," Claudia says, recoiling back like she's been slapped. "She's not dead." Just then, Artie finds them. He looks relieved, but that goes away when she points the tesla at him. "Tell her!" she shrieks, her voice cracking. "Tell her she's wrong! Myka, Myka is _not _dead. She can't be."

Claudia collapses onto the ground, shaking. None of this can be true. None of it.

"I'm sorry, Claudia," Leena says quietly.

"Save it," she replies. She sniffles, and then she can't hold back tears because none of this can be true. "Where's Pete?" she asks.

"I sent him out on a mission," Artie says.

She looks at the floor. "Oh. Okay."

"What-what happened?" Claudia asks.

Leena and Artie exchange a glance. "It was an accident," Leena says.

"What happened?" Claudia asks more forcefully.

"Um..." Artie tries but fails to begin his sentence. She looks at him expectantly. "Let's get you back to the B&B," he finally says. She doesn't want to agree, but she's too tired to argue.

"Okay. Fine," she says, and they take her back to the B&B and tell her all sorts of comforting lies, or at least she assumes they're lies. She can't tell the difference anymore. She checks the date on the newspaper and isn't as surprised as she thinks she should be to find that she's missed out on a couple days. She lies in bed and tries not to think aboutanything, especially Myka, but it's too hard, and she feels so small and helpless. It's like when she was at her foster homes. She can't change anything. She can't help anyone.


	5. Chapter 5

Pete drives to the case alone. The car feels empty. Usually, it would be filled with arguments or classical music or Pete's favorite type of music, and in the case of either type of music, it would also be filled with complaints. Usually, it would be filled with Myka. And no amount or volume of music can fill that gap.

His first stop is the Jayville Hospital, which is where the mysterious dog bite victim is staying. Pete isn't even close to read to go on a case yet. He doesn't even know if he'll be any good on his own. Artie had told them they had been picked for their combined skills. What if an incomplete set doesn't work? Artie said getting back in the field and saving lives might help. Pete hopes he's right.

The man's name is Gregory Cuntero, and he's well-liked among the townspeople. He owns a small bookstore that a lot of people like, especially locals. Pete feels another pang of regret as he remembers _Bering and Sons,_ the bookstore Myka's family owns, and he wonders how much of the story they heard and how they're dealing with it. _Focus,_ he thinks, trying to get himself back on track.

"Sir, you can come in now," a nurse tells him, and he steps into the man's room.

"Gregory Cuntero?" Pete asks. Gregory nods. "Secret Service. I'd like to ask you a few questions."

Gregory looks doubtful. "Since when does the Secret Service investigate dog bites in South Dakota?"

"Since there wasn't a dog at that station."

"Oh, are you going to start with that too? Look, I got some pretty convincing evidence," he says while gesturing at his leg, which is swelling and beginning to turn purple. When he sees Pete looking at it, he says, "Doctors say it's infected, but they don't know what the infection is. If they can't figure it out, I'm going to die. Can the Secret Service explain that?" Without waiting for an answer, he grumbles, "I always knew this was going to happen."

That makes Pete curious. "What made you think this was going to happen?"

"When I was a little boy, this big German Shepard bit me. It was a real bad bite; I hate to go to the hospital and everything. I was always terrified that thing would come back and finish me off. And then the other day in the train station up comes this German Shepard, and it bites me. Now I'm going to die from it. Life's ironic, huh?" Pete nods distractedly. It seems plausible that the artifact can make someone's fears come to life.

"Have you come into contact with anything new or strange recently?"

Gregory frowns. "Um, no, nothing's coming to mind." Pete starts to walk away, but before he can leave, Gregory calls out, "Wait, there were some odd things."

.:.

Claudia's headache has mostly subsided. There's still a dull throb, but she doubts that's from the tesla blast. Artie and Leena are both dressed up, which is a rare thing. Artie wears one of his nicer suits, and it looks clean. Leena has on a dark blue blouse and a black shirt.

"You guys are making me feel overdressed," she teases. She's only wearing jeans and a t-shirt.

Leena looks up at her with a somber expression. "Yes, well, the funeral is today."

She decides she isn't going to eat anything this morning; she suddenly isn't hungry. "Oh. Shouldn't Pete be here? I mean, I don't think he'd like you guys doing it without him."

Artie clears his throat. "We think it would be best for him not to show up."

"Why not? He was her partner. Wouldn't it look better if he showed up?" Claudia asks. Artie and Leena both pretend to be busy and ignore her question.

"You should get dressed," Leena suggests.

Claudia sighs. She absolutely does not want to go to a friend's funeral. Myka was like a sister to her, and it hurts enough just to hear it from Artie and Leena. She doesn't want the whole things to be finalized. She isn't ready for Myka to be lowered into the ground. Claudia supposes she should've lost enough people at this point to be used to this feeling, but it hits her in the gut as hard as it did the first time.

"Okay. What time is the service?" she asks. She hopes her voice didn't crack. She wants to seem more resolute than she really is.

"Ten," Leena answers. Claudia goes back to her room. She sits against the wall, hugging her knees. After a while, she gets up and picks some nice clothes. She doesn't want to be late. That would be disrespectful.

At 9:30, Claudia is downstairs in nicer clothes and cleaned up as best she can. They get in Artie's Camino, Claudia in shotgun, and they drive to the cemetery where this will be taking place. Though Artie's driving skills are somehow made worse by grief, Claudia and Leena don't tease or reprimand him once for driving like a maniac.

The Univille cemetery is small and barely noticeable, just like the town. Its tombstones are generally small; they look like they belong to someone without enough money to buy a proper tombstone. The lettering has mostly faded, but Claudia can make out the names of several warehouse agents before Leena makes her go to where a coffin sits next to a hole 6 feet deep.

People filter in. Claudia sees Myka's parents. Her mother looks very distraught, like a parent should be at their child's funeral. Her father, on the other hand, looks positively homicidal with anger, like he blames the world. Other than them, there are a few people from Univille that Claudia doesn't think Myka knew very well. Pete doesn't show up. She can't believe they really didn't invite him. It doesn't make sense.

Claudia doesn't understand how she got here. There are things that Artie and Leena are keeping from her about this. Whatever the "accident" was, it left enough of a body for her to be buried, but it did something awful enough for them to have to have a closed casket funeral. In the warehouse, an accident can mean anything from falling down the stairs to getting swallowed whole by a giant wall of fire.

The service ends, and after watching her get lowered into the ground, everyone goes to the wake. There are a few food items that Leena made because she cooks when she's stressed, but no one looks very hungry. Claudia recognizes Ted from Ted's, a restaurant in Univille, and a few other people who feel familiar but that she can't place. Myka's parents approach her.

"Mr. and Mrs. Bering. So glad to see you could come," Claudia says. She's trying to fake that she's okay, though she's never been so far from it. "I mean, under the current circumstances, of course," she adds quickly.

"I hate that the circumstances had to happen at all," Myka's dad says in a surprisingly calm voice that doesn't match his expression at all. "Now where's the bastard that killed my daughter? Is he too afraid to rear his ugly head? He should be. Cleared, my ass. That guy's not getting off scott free if I can help it." He sounds menacing, and it's all Claudia can do not to back away.

"I don't understand. Myka's death was an accident." Her words sound weak even in her own ears. She had felt like they were lying to her, but she can't see why they would have to.

Warren Bering looks like he's either going to chuckle or throw something, and Claudia feels like she said the worst thing possible. "Yeah, like anyone's believing that bullshit."

Claudia gives a small shake of her head. "Okay, recap. I've been having some memory issues recently, sorry. Tell me what happened."

A pained look crosses Mrs. Bering's face, and her husband speaks. "Well, obviously," he says with a glare in her direction. He hesitates, and she hates making him tell her, but he's her only reliable source of information at the moment. "She was hit with a beer bottle by her intoxicated partner after he raped her. Or at least that's what doctors say. He can neither affirm nor deny any of it, but they let him off. Now, does that sound like corruption of the law to you?" Claudia barely stifles a gasp. How could Pete do something like that?

"Yes, a horrible one. I'm so sorry. He's not here, but he'll get what's coming to him; I can promise you that," she says in a surprisingly calm and even voice. "Would you like some refreshments?" she asks. She waves them over to the small sandwiches, among other things, that are on a table draped with a while, lacy tablecloth. They leave, and she can see that they're not happy. It's still unresolved. She will be the one who resolves it, rights this wrong, and undoes this tragedy.

.:.

"What was odd?" Pete asks Gregory.

Gregory thinks about it for a moment. "Well, my sister came into town."

"That's not exactly what I meant."

"No no, she collects trinkets, just little things she finds. If you're looking for something odd, she's got a collection," he explains.

"Great. Do you know where I can find her?"

He nods. "She should be at my house. That's where she's been staying. Address is 362 Rook Street."

Pete thanks him and leaves. He manages to find the address easily enough. He knocks, and a small blonde woman opens the door.

"Do I know you?" she asks.

"No." He holds up his badge. "I'd just like to have a look around."

She pales. "Oh. Of course, come on in." She moves away from the door frame and gestures him in. Most of the house looks normal. In a room on the second floor, there are piles and piles of things that don't look like they can be useful to anyone.

She sees him looking. "Those are my collections," she explains, though it doesn't really explain anything. The only thing he can think is that she must be a hoarder. He's seen stranger things, but he can't imagine why she would want to keep most of these things. It's entirely possible there's an artifact in there, but it would take years for him to go through all the junk to get to it.

"That's all I'll be needing," he says. She looks confused, but she lets him out through the front door. He gets into the car, which used to be Myka's, and calls Artie on his Farnsworth.

"Did you get something?" the older agent asks.

Pete shrugs. "I don't know. The guy said he has some big phobia of dog bites, so maybe we should start with some sort of fear artifact. His sister's kind of a hoarder, and there might be something in her piles, but there's no way we could ever find it."

Artie nods distractedly, and Pete notices he's wearing one of his nicer suits and isn't in the warehouse. "Hey, where are you?"

"It doesn't matter. I'll get that search done," Artie says then hangs up. Pete is left sitting in his car with nothing to do until the search comes back. He decides to go grab some lunch.

A Mexican place down the street looks okay. He orders a taco and waits for his food to come. Then he hears a loud crash coming from the kitchen. Someone screams. Pete runs in and finds a waitress collapsed on the ground. She has no scars, and he can't see what happened. He checks her neck for a pulse. There isn't one. Then he sees water trickling out of her mouth. He gently pries it open, and the trickle turns into a river. This girl drowned standing up in a Mexican restaurant, and that screams artifact.

He stands. "Hey, did she touch anything? Get anything new?" he asks another waitress.

She shakes her head. "Not that I know of."

"Well, did she know Gregory Cuntero?"

She shakes her head again. "I mean, he came over here to eat sometimes, but they weren't like best buds or anything."

"Well, how about," he begins, and then he makes the connection. "Did she ever fear drowning? Maybe when she was little something happened?"

The waitress thinks for a moment. "Um, yes, she hated water. Never liked to go swimming or anything. Not sure why." He nods and leaves the crime scene.

Once he's outside, he pulls out his Farnsworth and calls Artie again. "I think it's definitely a fear thing," he says after Artie picks up.

"How do you know?"

"There's been another victim," Pete explains. "She drowned in a Mexican restaurant. According to a coworker, she hated the water. Probably feared it."

"Oh," Artie says. "Alright, yes, that's good. I'll get back to the warehouse now, do some background checks on that."

"Great. Tell me when you find something."

"You'll be the second to know," Artie says then hangs up.

Pete finds himself playing with his fingers and just trying to stay out of the officers' way. They ask him to give a statement but then decide he's innocent and tell him he can go. He doesn't go, though, instead staying pretty close to the building, moving around to an alley on the side when an officer gives him a look. His Farnsworth finally buzzes, and he picks it up before the first ring is over.

"Claudia?" he asks when he sees who called him. "Sorry, I was expecting Artie. He get done with that search yet?"

She looks a little surprised. "Search? Artie," she pauses for a moment as she cranes her neck and looks for him, "is not here. I don't know. I think he's my ride," she adds.

"Sorry," he says with a shrug. "Where are you guys anyway?"

"Funeral," she answers bluntly.

"Oh," he says. Things are suddenly awkward. He can see a much colder, distant look on her face now. "Are you okay?"

"Fine," she replies.

"So why did you call?" he asks. This seems to bring her back to earth.

"Oh, um, I just wanted to see what was going on. With you," she adds. "What case are you on anyways? Maybe I can help."

"I think it might have something to do with fear. Artie's already checking."

"Oh. See you when you get back, then."

"Yeah," he says, but she doesn't get to hear it because she hangs up first.

He's not sure if it was just him, but she seems more cold and distant, like before they talked. He's sure it's nothing, though, just something to do with being at the funeral.

.:.

Claudia looks around the building again. She spots Leena but not Artie. She approaches the other woman.

"Hey, if Artie's our ride, what do we do if he already went to the warehouse?"

Leena shrugs. "He is our ride, and why would he go back to the warehouse?"

"Pete wanted him to search something."

"You could call him."

"I guess. I might be ready to head home, too. I'm tired. Long day."

Leena nods. "I should probably stick around and play hostess for a while longer, just until these guys leave, but some sleep sounds good to me too."

Claudia nods and walks off. She calls Artie, and he grumbles quite a bit about how he has a job to do and he's not her chaperone and something else, but she stops listening about midway through. He agrees to come.

She wonders if she should tell them about the things she found out today. She decides she should. They ought to know, and she doesn't think she can keep this anger inside. It's not just for Pete, though that's where the majority lies. It also hurts her that Leena and Artie would lie about something this important, though she doesn't see why she didn't expect it. She wonders what else they've been keeping from her.


	6. Chapter 6

Claudia waits until they're at the B&B to explode because the car is too small for that conversation and she doesn't want to distract Artie from driving even more. Once they get to the inn, though, she immediately erupts into yelling.

"You're both lying to me!" she shouts, making them both jump. "Myka, her death wasn't an accident. It was *Pete.* How can you keep something like that from me?"

Leena is the first to recover. "We didn't mean to keep anything from you-"

"Oh, but you did, didn't you?" Claudia interrupts. Leena puts her hands on her hips and tightens her lips but doesn't say anything. "How could Pete do something like that? What happened? Tell me the truth this time," she commands.

Leena looks at them. "Is anyone hungry? I could make something."

Claudia glares at her. "No," she says forcefully.

"I might take something," Artie says. Leena hurries into the kitchen. Claudia directs her glare at Artie. "What? It'll keep her busy."

Claudia sighs. "Start talking." She sits down in an armchair and gestures for Artie to sit as well. He chooses the couch seat closest to her armchair.

"I don't know," he says and sighs like a much older man. She almost takes pity on him. Almost. "I just got a call and went. I don't really think he knew what was going on either, not that that's any excuse. He didn't look drunk, but there were empty bottles on the floor. When you saw her, you screamed. You were angry, more than you should've been. More than is healthy. You found an artifact. A rope bracelet with the power to bring back the dead for a price. It was a life for a life, Claudia. Pete was willing to give up his."

"Really? He would do that?" Claudia asks. "But he didn't. I talked to him earlier. He was very much alive."

"Well, no, I stopped him. You seemed very on board with the idea, however."

"It's his fault!" she exclaims, suddenly on the defensive again. "_He_ got reckless. _He_ got drunk. He fucking killed Myka, Artie! How can you forgive him for that? How can you be all business as usual? What if he gets dangerous again? He could hurt someone else. Why does he deserve to live more than Myka?" He glares disapprovingly at her for swearing but otherwise doesn't look like he has anything to disagree with.

"Mrs. Frederic ordered for him to get back in the field after a couple days off. I'm paid to follow orders."

"Yeah, but since when do you actually do it?"

"Sometimes it's easier than to argue."

"Well, yeah, but what does it mean? Does Mrs. F think he's innocent? She wouldn't send him back into the field if she thought he was evil, right? And she's usually right. Damn, I wish we had a way to contact her." Claudia sits back in her chair. It's one explanation, and it makes sense to her. Pete can't have done this, not the Pete she knows anyway. So maybe it's an artifact, or he didn't do it, or something else that will take the blame off the man who's been like an older brother when she needs a family. He'll be innocent until someone can prove otherwise, at least to her.

"Possibly," Artie replies.

Claudia senses this conversation, or at least the useful part, has come to a close. "Well, these clothes are itchy and uncomfortable. I'm going to go change," she says and makes her way over to the stairs. "Artie?" she adds as something occurs to her.

"Mhm?" He redirects his attention to her once more.

"If it really is an artifact, would neutralizing it erase the effects? I mean, would it bring her back?"

"Who can say? All artifacts and react differently. Maybe,_ maybe_ it could bring her back. But I wouldn't count on it," he adds when she nearly starts doing a dance in her excitement. Then she actually does and remembers she's wearing her nice clothes, which make it considerably harder to dance.

"Wait for me. I'll just be a minute," she tells Artie then bounces up the steps two at a time. She wasn't lying; she's back downstairs in only a minute or two, truly a feat in the clothes she had chosen to wear to the funeral.

She sits back down in the same armchair as before. She now wears a t-shirt and jeans, a much comfier and more relaxed choice. "What artifact were they chasing?" she asks, getting straight to the point.

"What?"

"What artifact were they snagging? You know, when, um, Pete-"

"Oh. Oh, yes, of course. They didn't know what it was yet, or at least I didn't. A woman was killed by her ex-husband, who was out of the country at the time and most assuredly _not_ killing this woman. They got there, and a man's entire family just fell over and died. Seemingly unrelated events, of course, but Myka and Pete were working on finding a connection."

"Well, there's still someone who can tell us if they got any answers," Claudia says and pulls out her fancy farnsworth.

.:.

Pete goes back to the hospital, and Gregory's room is empty. He confronts the doctors.

"This was Gregory Cuntero's room a couple hours ago. Where is he?"

"You didn't hear? The infection took him faster than anyone expected. I'm sorry for your loss," the doctor says quickly then gets back to what he was doing.

"Dammit," Pete mutters as he leaves the hospital. Just before he gets out the door, a loud buzzing noise comes from his pocket. He pulls out the farnsworth.

"Claudia? Hi again. I'm fine. Don't really need the constant checkups," he says. He nearly hangs up the farnsworth before she can talk.

"What did you and Myka find out?" she asks quickly before he can hang up on her.

Pete is taken aback. _Where did that come from?_ "Uh, Claude, Myka's dead."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Sorry. I meant before. The artifact you guys were working on. What did you find out?"

"Um..." He's coming up a blank. He can't remember the artifact, what happened, afternoon to evening to night to morning. "Sorry, I don't remember it."

"Pete, come on! We need to snag it! There's really nothing?"

"Nothing. Sorry, Claude, wish I could help."

She shrugs. "That's okay. Thanks anyway, I guess." She hangs up.

Pete wonders what she's planning. He's sure it has something to do with Myka, and maybe it'll work better than his last plan. Artie seems to be aware of it this time, which is probably a good sign. It definitely means it won't be too risky or involve abusing a dangerous artifact.

He wants to believe he'd never hurt Myka. When he first met her, he had seen her outer beauty and by-the-book ways. Maybe he had loved her that minute. Maybe it was later, when he started to learn more about her and see her vulnerabilities and weaknesses and who she was. And he knows that even if he didn't quite know the woman that day, he knows her now, and that's why he loves her. Loves. Present tense. It doesn't stop.

But he hurt her. But he _killed_ her, and it's killing him. He always knew he depended on her, but it wasn't until he was on his own that he understood just how much. _She would know what to do,_ he thinks. _She always knew what to do._ He tries to go on like normal, but there's a hole, and it's just always there because she's not. He needs them to fix this. It's the only way this can really end for him. If he can apologize, if she can forgive him, the world will start spinning again.

.:.

Artie and Claudia work on finding out what the artifact was.

"Okay, maybe it has something to do with memory," Claudia suggests. "That would explain why he forgot."

"You think he was affected by whatever it was?"

She shrugs. "Sort of depending on what it did. I'm guessing maybe the primary focus wasn't memory because if that's all it does, it wouldn't have killed Myka." Artie doesn't have the heart to remind the excited young agent that it might not be an artifact. It might be useful to have her on the case, regardless of whether it's responsible for Myka's death.

"Artie, did you have any idea? I mean, did you have a list of possible artifacts or something?" Claudia asks.

"Yes. On the chalkboard in the warehouse. I erased it, though."

"But do you remember any of it?"

He thinks about it. "Maybe three out of ten. It's not a lot to go on, but it's something."

"Yeah." She nods. "Come on, let's get to the warehouse," she says and walks out to her car. Artie follows. Maybe 10 minutes later, the agents arrive at the large warehouse. Like Artie said, the board is erased.

"You said you might remember some ideas? Write them." He picks up one of the larger pieces of chalk and writes rapidly in large print. It's messy but not too messy to read. Each line contains an artifact. As it turns out, he can remember seven off the top of his head, and he says he can get the rest within an hour.

Claudia plops down in a chair. "You know, you could be doing something productive, like inventory," he comments.

She shakes her head. "I want to work on this. No offense, but I just don't think that inventory should be my priority right now."

"Well, no, but you can't help with this part, and you may as well make yourself useful."

She sighs. "Fine," she says, stretching the first vowel. She walks down to an aisle she was working on earlier. The inventory is a completely mindless and boring task, but it makes the time crawl by. She listens to music, and her mind wanders. It can only occupy her for about 20 minutes, then she's back in Artie's office, trying to help when she can but likely doing more hindering than helping. Artie works quickly but obviously not quickly enough for the impatient redhead, who is acting like a small child in the backseat of a car. He doesn't tell her that, though, because he's happy to see her closer to her old self.

Claudia tries to be helpful, but after Artie makes it clear at least ten times that this isn't something she can help with, she resigns herself to walking around the warehouse because she's had enough of inventory after days of doing nothing but. The warehouse, which had felt like a place of endless wonder, as Mrs. Frederic called it, since the moment she walked in, now seems like a prison for dangerous things, things that can't be released into the public. Things that have killed agents back through the generations, things that will take all her new friends away from her one by one. She is wary of everything on the shelves, even the things that seem completely harmless, almost _silly, _because she doesn't want to be picked off so quickly.

Her farnsworth buzzes. Expecting it to be Pete, she pulls it out and wonders what he might have found out. Instead, it's Artie.

"I think I've recreated the whole list," he greets her.

"Great. Be there in a few," she replies and hangs up. She retraces her steps, heading back towards Artie's office. Once she arrives, she sees the list, which looks much more complete now than it did before. She studies the choices.

"So how do we know which it is?"

He glances at the list. "Well, I'm guessing it's not this one. We should've ruled it out when the man's family died, but I guess I must've been busy at the time." At her questioning look, he adds, "Oh, it's just a hallucinatory artifact. We were thinking it might have been her hallucination and it freaking her out killed her. Not true, of course, unless those things were caused by two different artifacts. It doesn't fit with Myka's death anyways." He picks up his dusty eraser and runs it over the artifact.

"Any more you think we can rule out?" Claudia asks.

"Um, well, you should never rule anything out. No, I don't think there's anything else we can be certain didn't cause this. I guess we'll have to go through the others one by one."

"I can help with that part, right?"

"_Oh _yes, I imagine you'll be doing a lot of helping with that part."

She smiles. "Better get started, then."


	7. Chapter 7

Pete doesn't have to wait too long for his next lead. He comes across a crime scene, a drunk driving incident. A young girl, approximately 12 or 13, was killed. The driver is almost unharmed except for a few scrapes and cuts. The whole scene disgusts Pete. At 2 in the afternoon, bars aren't even open. He watches the man be taken off in a police car and is endlessly glad his drinking didn't cause something like this, though it caused something about a thousand times worse. With no other leads to follow, Pete decides to question the man.

"I don't drink! I swear!" the man yells in a panicked voice when Pete walks in.

"If you're trying to convince me you weren't drinking and driving-"

"I haven't had a drink in 14 years!" the man interrupts in the same voice. "No one believes me, but I really wasn't drinking." He looks like he's nearly to the point of pleading.

An idea occurs to Pete. "Would you say you were afraid of something like this happening?"

"Well, yes. That's why I quit."

Pete nods. "I believe you. I don't think that'll be much help with the other officers, though. Good luck," he says then leaves the police building.

He thinks it over as he walks. The artifact definitely reacts to fears, making them really happen. Gregory feared dog bites. The waitress feared water and drowning. The man in the accident feared his drinking would cause a disaster. That all makes sense. He doesn't know what artifact would cause that, though. He leaves that to Artie and Claudia. Once he's far enough away from the site of the accident that there aren't as many people around, he calls them.

.:.

Claudia is asleep when she's rudely awakened by a loud buzzing noise. She tries to ignore it, but it keeps going incessantly for much longer than a normal phone would go. Once it has her fully conscious, she chides herself for falling asleep on the job and taking so long to answer the farnsworth.

"Oh, there you are. I was starting to think you weren't going to answer."

"Just keeping you on your toes. What's up?"

"Another victim. His fear was a drunk driving incident. Killed a kid."

"What makes you think it was the artifact?"

"It follows the same symptoms as the others."

"No, they died. Plus, accidents because of drunk driving happen without artifacts all the time. It's sad and all, but it doesn't smell particularly artifacty."

"Claude, they died because they fear death. Trust me on the one."

"You're positive it's a fear thing?"

"Well, yeah."

Claudia has a thought. "Okay, do you think it might be the same artifact as last time?" she asks. Before he can answer, she says, "I know, I know, you can't remember it. But you were going there to investigate a lady's ex killing her while he was out of the country and she wasn't. While you were there, a guy's family just falls over and dies. Sound familiar?"

"Okay, yeah, that does sound like the same artifact. So I'm after the same thing as before. Does Artie have any idea what kind of thing we're looking for?" Pete asks.

"None, as far as I can tell. I'll go run this by him. Tell you if we find anything out."

She hangs up and wonders where Artie could've gotten to. She's embarrassed that she fell asleep, but the task is much more boring than she thought it would be.

Artie walks in. "Did you find anything out?"

"I might have. Pete called."

"Did he have anything interesting to say?"

She nods. "We think it might be the same artifact he and Myka were hunting before."

"Okay," he says. "What makes you think that?"

"Well, it's a fear thing, right? I told Pete about the lady and her ex and the guy's family. It's a lot like what's going on over there. Plus, both towns are pretty close, definitely within easy driving distance, so it being moved between the two isn't really all that hard to believe."

Artie doesn't spend very long thinking it over. "Yes, yes, that could be right," he mutters. Then, louder, he adds, "Of course, you should never rule anything out, but this idea does seem the most plausible. We can definitely keep that in mind."

"So, did you find anything out, or are you just looking for something to help with research in your lair?" Claudia asks.

Artie sighs. "Unfortunately, the latter. Nothing yet. I think there might be some files that can help, though."

She spins around in his chair so she faces the computer. "I can do that."

His eyes narrow from the mention of the computer. "I meant _physical_ files. Besides, don't you have research of your own to be doing?"

"Someday you're going to have to get to the 21st century, Gramps." At his slightly annoyed look, she adds, "This research thing? Not as exciting as it sounds. And it doesn't sound very exciting."

"I know. And you know. You've done this before, Claudia. It's possibly the most important part of all this, so _concentrate._"

"I know! I'm trying. It's just - this isn't like those other cases, okay? There's so much more at stake here, and for some reason that's making it really hard to concentrate." She sighs and turns back to face the computer. Artie goes into the large filing room. She knows she has to work. It's Myka! This plan has to work, and if it doesn't, she'll find another way.

For years, she thought Joshua was dead. Her therapists certainly preferred that answer over the true one, and they sort of programmed it into her head. And then it turned out he wasn't. Now he's very much alive, working at CERN, getting a second chance at life that she gave him. She'll do the same for Myka, but she won't wait. She'll follow every lead, take every chance, work every day, this time for her big sister instead of her big brother.

She redirects her attention to the computer screen and wishes she could also redirect her focus and interest to the small words printed in neat font on the screen. Then, when she clicks on the next lead on their shrinking list of possible artifacts, she finds the thing she thought she would never find, perhaps even a thing she thought was impossible to find: a simple answer. She knows what the artifact is.

.:.

It's the same artifact as before. Pete thinks about what that means.

He doesn't remember it, which is likely one of the artifact's side effects. He'll bet anything he touched the artifact. He's always touching things he shouldn't. It's a habit Myka had never given up on trying to break him of, if only because it endangered them all. And for her efforts, she was almost always the one to suffer for his mistake, or at the very least to clean it up. Somehow, through all of his faults, she found something worth sticking around for, and she did. Throughout his life, all of the people around him always left, but he knew she wasn't going to be like the rest of them. She's there for him, and the very idea of her going, it's inconceivable, and then it's his fault.

His world has already crumbled around him, gone too fast for him to even make one of his quips. And then it hits him. _Someone must have been around that night. At the hotel...wherever else we went._ He pauses for a moment, wishing he had more information about that night. _Never mind. It's a lead. I can figure it out on the way._

He climbs into the car that probably should belong to someone else (her parents?). Pete is painfully aware of the small things that still mark the car as hers: her sunglasses in the glove compartment, a half-eaten pack of Twizzlers thrown into the backseat for later, and a couple of her books scattered across the vehicle, as well as other things.

The last thing he remembers from that night was actually in the afternoon. They had checked into the hotel - two separate rooms, at least at the time. They were just going to rest for a minute and put their overnight bags down before starting on the case. And then he woke up.

He pulls out his farnsworth to make sure a quick detour to Featherhead, the site of the last artifact disturbance, won't be too much of a problem. He just hopes it doesn't cause too much of a problem in Jayville while he's gone and that he can get a clue as to what it is while he's in Featherhead.

Just as he's about to press the button, Claudia's face shows up on the screen. "Wow, that was fast. Not that you don't normally pick up fast, but you know, not - you know what? Never mind." She turns away, looking back at her computer. "I think I found it," she says distractedly.

"What?"

She looks up at him again. "The artifact. I think I found the artifact," she clarifies. "Well, not in the sense of having the slightest idea where it is, but I think I might know what it is."

He smiles. "Nice! Well, what is it?"

"I think it might be Martha Corey's crucifix," Claudia says. "I mean, it fits. I can't really be sure, 'cause, you know, I wasn't there, but - well, it makes your worst nightmare come true, which certainly makes sense with dog bite guy and drowning girl and most of the others, and I think it makes sense with you, doesn't it?" She thinks over what she just said and adds, "I mean, it was an artifact, wasn't it? You wouldn't really have..." She trails off and looks at him expectantly.

"It does fit. God, I hope so. Believe me when I say that it absolutely is a worst-case scenario."

She hesitates then asks, "Do you love her?"

"Hell, yes. I need her, Claude." He pauses and lets out a sigh. "Uh, nice work." He hangs up. Immediately after, he realizes that he didn't even bring up going to Featherhead. _Kind of irrelevant now, I guess. Besides, some of the locals might not be so nice to me after my possibly artifact-induced night of terror, especially since they don't know about the artifact-induced part._

He wants to believe that it was caused by an artifact, because that's the only explanation that makes sense - this just isn't something he would or even *could* do. So he already at least partly believed that it was an artifact, even before he learned about Martha something-or-other's cross.

.:.

Claudia thinks she should probably get some real sleep in a real bed since she's falling asleep on the job, and a tired agent is not a good agent. She decides to take the farnsworth just in case Pete calls, though she doesn't see why he would need to.

She pulls on her jacket. "Artie, can I take the Camino?"

He narrows his eyes and grumbles quite a lot. "And _why_ would you need a car, especially mine, right now?"

She rolls her eyes. "I want to go to Leena's. I'm tired, and I got all my work done. I still need my customary 90 minutes of sleep a night."

He makes a show of checking his watch. "It's not night. It's four in the afternoon."

"Artie? Please?" He breaks almost instantly.

"Well, I guess-"

"Wonderful! Thanks," she says and steals his car keys, which he conveniently left on his desk, then rushes out before he can say anything else.

"If you tell me about this breakthrough in the case!" he yells after her.

"When I get back!" she calls back from about halfway through the umbilical. She's almost out the door when the farnsworth starts buzzing. _Dammit, I forgot to grab it._ She rushes back through and plops down in Artie's chair just as he's about to sit in it.

She opens the farnsworth. "Hey, Claude," he greets her.

"Hey," she replies. "I don't think you could've gotten anything this quickly, so-"

"Well, no, I didn't. I just wanted to think out loud, and that's a lot less conspicuous when someone else is there."

She frowns. "I don't really see talking to a little metal box being much less conspicuous than talking to yourself." Then it hits her. Pete needs a partner, someone to bounce ideas off of, and since he can't get the person he really wants, she has to fill in. "But it's okay," she adds. "I have an extra minute."

"Great," he says. "Well, where would these people have all gone?"

"A public place, maybe? Like, I don't know, a supermarket or a restaurant?"

He shakes his head. "No, then more people would be affected. Besides, who keeps a cross in a supermarket? Sounds more like something somebody would be wearing."

"No, that doesn't make sense either. At least I don't think..." She trails off, frowning.

Artie clears his throat. "If I may offer my input, it might be in some sort of pawn shop. I distinctly remember a pawn shop in Featherhead called _The Emporium of Treasures_ - cheesy name, I know - in which we've found artifacts before. It might be worth looking into."

Pete nods. "Yeah, I should check that out."

"Can I go? You know, as backup?"

"I don't know, Claude. It might be dangerous."

"I want to catch this son of a bitch! I can't just sit back."

Artie looks into her eyes and sees that she's deadly serious. He sighs. "Fine," he mumbles.

"Yes!" She reaches for the farnsworth and sticks it in her pocket. He grabs the keys before she can and holds them out of her reach.

"If you so much as scratch my car, you'll be doing inventory until the day you die _and_ paying for any repairs. Is that clear?" She nods impatiently, and he drops the keys into her hand. She races out the door and begins her 2 hour drive to Featherhead, sleep long forgotten.

.:.

In a small town in the middle of nowhere, South Dakota, better known to its residents as Featherhead, Topher Brown, a very resourceful young man who inherited a pawn shop from his grandfather, sits in his shop worrying. He knows now that it was a bad idea to get rid of the crucifix; in doing so, he's given away his biggest advantage against whatever agencies want his new toy. He just freaked out after he was caught by the Secret Service. They had been easy enough to get rid of; a simple brush of the crucifix against the man's hand had done the trick.

Now he worries, because what if their supervisor or another agency knows about it? He doesn't know what they can charge him with, but he knows that he can't go to jail.

As the sun slinks down into the horizon, Topher closes down and locks his shop, then begins to dust the shelves. He hears the doors burst open, and his heart jumps into his throat. He peeks around a shelf to see who it is.

Oh,_ shit._ He absolutely should've kept the cross.


	8. Chapter 8

Claudia's eyes move over the shop. At first, she can't tell if the owner is in or not, but then she sees a man peeking from behind one of the shelves of junk. He seems to be trying not to get noticed. She keeps her tesla raised and moves to the shelf, hoping she can corner him with no need for a chase. Unfortunately, she isn't particularly lucky, and he notices her approach almost immediately and runs around the shelf the other way, trying to dash out the door. Pete grabs him and knocks him over before he can get anywhere. Since he gave the tesla to Claudia, he holds a real gun, pointing it directly at the man's head. Claudia can see the look of terror on the shop owner's face and remembers that they don't actually know for certain that this man is responsible.

"Pete," she begins.

"You used the cross, didn't you?" he interrupts, his focus still entirely on the junk emporium's owner.

"I-I." He looks like he's about to lie, then sees Pete's expression and thinks better of it. "Yes, I did." Pete looks even angrier, if that's possible, and the shopkeeper can't look more mousey and terrified. "But it's not here now!" he adds quickly. "You can search, but you won't find it. I sent it away! I don't know where!"

He tries to get up, but Pete's foot slams into his chest hard. "Pete!" Claudia tries again. "We have to get going, or more people are going to die!" He finally looks up at her.

"Why would you use something like that?" he asks, looking back at the other man.

"How can you reverse it?" Claudia asks, feeling that it's the more important question. She's met enough truly nasty people in her life, and while she can't understand what goes through their heads, she believes it's more important to pick up the pieces, fix whatever's broken.

"You can't," he says, looking pretty sorry for that fact because Pete looks very ready to kill him.

"You're lying," Pete says. Claudia hopes more than anything that he's right, but she can see that he isn't, no matter how much they both wish it's true.

The mousey man shakes his head. Pete looks like he's about ready to leave for Jayville again. Just after he turns away, he looks back at the other man and slams his foot into his nose. It starts gushing blood immediately, and Claudia tries to avoid the new blood puddles on the floor on her way out.

Pete sits in his car, not driving, not even moving to put the keys in the ignition. She walks up to the SUV, and he rolls down the window so they can talk.

"We'll get her back," Claudia says, comforting him.

"How do you know?" he questions. She doesn't answer at first, because she honestly has no idea, and maybe they can't, but she doesn't want to believe that. Everyone told her that Joshua was dead, gone, and the only reason she didn't bring him back earlier is because she believed them. Even if they can't bring Myka back by neutralizing this artifact, there will be another artifact, another way.

"I just do," she answers simply. "Onwards to Jayville?" she asks.

"Yeah," he agrees. She walks back towards Artie's El Camino, and Pete pulls out just in front of her. She follows him.

.:.

Topher lies on the cold, hard floor of his store for nearly a full minute after he hears the agents' cars drive off out of fear. He doesn't know exactly what the man, apparently named Pete, according to both of the female agents he's brought with him, has nightmares about, and frankly, he can't imagine anything a man like that would be afraid of, but it's certainly affecting him a great deal. All he knows is that the cross brushed his fingers, it became morning, and both agents were gone, which suited him just fine. He had been afraid that the man's worst fear would be something like a giant rat or maybe a spider like Aragog from the Harry Potter books. Unfortunately, the man's fear apparently did leave him alive. Maybe he should have done it to the woman, but she was a lot tougher. She made him look like the nice one, which, as he can see even more clearly now, is quite a feat.

He rises to his feet shakily, dizzy from blood loss. First things first: he has to call the hospital immediately, before he passes out. He stumbles over to his desk, right next to which there is a landline. He picks it up and dials 911, though even the simple number takes several tries with his blundering fingers.

"Featherhead 911, where's your emergency?" a woman on the other end says.

It's getting harder for him to talk, but he does anyway. "_The Emporium of Treasures. _Address is 147 North Elm Drive," he says, his words slurring together like he's drunk.

"Police, fire, or ambulance?"

"Ambulance. Definitely," he says.

"We'll send someone immediately."

"Great," he says even though she already hung up. He messily shoves the phone back where it belongs and hopes it actually ends up in there. He's covered in red. He can't remember what color shirt he was wearing this morning, but it certainly wasn't _that _color. He knows that he probably hasn't lost all that much blood, but he hardly ate anything today, and he was never the strongest anyway, and it's not like he has a choice about any of this. He moves away from his desk and promptly passes out.

.:.

Pete sees the "Welcome to Jayville" sign as he drives in and tries to think more about where exactly he should go in town to look for the artifact. He doesn't even think that idiot shopkeeper knows himself where he sent the damn crucifix. The places it's already been - there has to be some connection with them. As usual, it's harder for him to think without someone there to think with, so he waits until they get into town and pulls over next to a Chinese restaurant, a rarity in such a small town in South Dakota, and almost definitely the only one they have.

"Why we stopping?" Claudia asks after parking next to him.

"'Cause we don't know where we're going next, and I'm hungry."

She shakes her head. He can tell she's anxious to keep moving but at least partially agrees. "Alright, let's go." They walk into the place, called _China Palace. _The waitress comes over, and Pete orders a number of large dishes, while Claudia only orders a few little things and a Coke.

As soon as the waitress gets out of range, Pete starts brainstorming aloud. "Okay, so let's start with all the people in Jayville who got affected with this cross."

Claudia nods. "Yeah, okay, there's drunk guy, if you're right on that one, drowning lady, dog bite guy, and I think that's all," she says. "Now where would those guys have met up to get whammied?"

"Well, dog bite's got a bookstore, drowning lady works a lot in a Mexican place. Didn't take the time to find much out about drunk guy, but it doesn't really seem like they would all just coincidentally come across something."

She groans. "You're not saying that someone _else _got ahold of this artifact and is using it."

"It does seem most likely."

"Alright, fine, but we still have to find out who that is. We got lucky last time, which is good because I think it would have been kind of awkward if store guy hadn't been the perp, but we can't just go barging into another place."

He thinks about it for a second. "Well, I'm not sure. I mean, I guess it could be-"

Pete's interrupted by a loud and incessant buzzing noise coming from Claudia's jacket pocket. She gets a couple annoyed looks as she pulls it out and answers. "Hey, Artemis, any news?"

"Don't call me that, and yes. There's been another occurrence. A girl's father went crazy and tried to, and I quote, 'eat her brains.'"

"We'll be right there," Pete says, then shuts the farnsworth. "Can we get that to-go, please?" he asks the waitress.

She nods. "Right away."

Claudia pulls her jacket back on and stands. "Meet you there?"

"Yeah, okay," Pete says, then watches her leave as he drums his fingers on the table, suddenly impatient.

.:.

Claudia arrives at the scene to find, as Artie said, a girl. He hadn't mentioned however, exactly how young this girl is. Claudia has never been good with children, not even when she was one, and talking to scared six year olds is certainly not her specialty. She's sitting on an ambulance wrapped in a blanket and shaking like crazy when Claudia finds her.

"Hi," the redhead greets the wide eyed blonde little girl. She doesn't answer, seeming contented to stare at Claudia, which makes her feel intensely uncomfortable. "What's your name?" she tries again.

It seems like she's going to stay silent again, but then she says, "Cora." Cora seems to have had enough of staring at Claudia and resumes her staring in the other direction.

"So what happened?" Claudia asks, getting quickly annoyed with the obviously not incredibly talkative six year old.

Cora shrugs. "The nice neighbor lady came by and showed off her shiny new necklace. She let me touch it. Then my daddy was standing over me trying to bite at me like the zombies in the scary movies, and I don't know _why._"

"Can you tell me about the nice neighbor lady? What's her name? What does she look like?"

The little girl thinks about it for a moment. "She just moved here a week or so ago. She's real pretty, and she's always showing off her new jewelry. Today she was showing us a pretty cross necklace. Um, she has black curly hair, and she's really short, way shorter than my daddy, and younger, too, in her 20's or 30's, I think. Her name's Amelia," Cora says, stretching out the second syllable, "but we call her Melly."

Claudia nods. "Wonderful! Do you know her last name?"

"Yeah. It's Umbrene."

Claudia smiles. "Great. Thanks for all your help."

Before, she can leave, Cora asks, "Is my daddy going to be okay?"

The smile is immediately wiped off Claudia's face. "I don't know." Cora hangs her head, but Claudia knows it's better to tell her the truth than a bunch of nice lies. She heads off just as Pete pulls in.

"Already done," she tells him.

"Sorry, that Chinese place was taking forever to get that stuff in boxes."

Claudia smirks. "Well, you did order a lot," she says, looking back at the nearly seven boxes in the backseat.

"Some of that's yours, and I was nice enough to pay for it all."

"I know. Thanks. Oh, and I got it. Little Cora over there described her neighbor, who had the necklace with her and let her touch it. We're looking for Amelia Umbrene, better known as Melly, in her 20's or 30's, really short and has curly black hair. And since Cora said _neighbor, _I think we can shorten our search to these couple of houses, assuming she's not out."

"Think she's going to be willing to give it up?"

"I don't know. She's almost definitely using it on purpose now." She shrugs. "Guess we'll find out, right? Come on."

Pete pulls out the keys and puts them in his pocket, then follows Claudia down the street to a house just next to the little girl's house.

Claudia knocks on the door. They hear some rustling coming from behind it. When it opens, Claudia sees a woman who almost perfectly matches her young neighbor's description: curly black hair, very short, and wearing lots of really jangly jewelry.

Pete steps in front of her and holds up his badge. "I'm Agent Lattimer, Secret Service, and this is my partner, Agent Donovan. May we come in?"


	9. Chapter 9

Melly's mind is racing as she steps aside to let the agents in. They can't have found out about the necklace; none of the others remembered, so why would Cora? _Maybe it works differently on kids, _she thinks. _I never tested that._

She doesn't know why the agents haven't noticed that she's freaking out. Aren't they trained to notice these things? Her heart is beating at least three times faster than normal, but they still don't notice. Maybe they aren't there because of the necklace.

Just as she begins to calm herself down, the man asks, "Did you recently get a necklace? It would be a silver cross."

"No. I don't know what you're talking about," Melly lies badly. She can tell they both can see right through her.

"Hand it over now, and no one gets hurt," the younger, redheaded agent says and moves slightly towards her. Melly is looking around desperately for something she can use to distract the agents until she can get to the cross. She sees a vase and knows that it's certainly illegal to hurt a federal agent, so even if they don't have anything on her now, they will soon, but she's panicking, and she only needs a couple seconds to get the necklace. She backs up, and they follow her, looking the whole time like they're going to reach for their guns if she backs away any further. She grabs the flower-pattern vase and smashes it into the man's head as hard as she can, then runs.

The girl is fast on her trail, but the steps up to her room are twisty and turny, and she knows them much better than the agent, which gives her an advantage. She grabs a dirty t-shirt from her laundry basket and uses it to pick up the powerful crucifix by the chain. She keeps the other end at the ready, so she can swing it at the agent when the time comes.

She finally makes it up the stairs but doesn't even go all the way to Melly's doorway. Instead, she aims a steampunk-looking thing at her. Melly feels an electrifying shock of pain as the girl shoots the strange weapon right at her.

.:.

Claudia runs back to the car to get a silver bag and some gloves. She walks back in, pulls the gloves on, and leans over Melly. She takes the artifact carefully, making sure not to brush it against her skin or Melly's. It's a success, and she ducks as the artifact sparks a lot. Then she goes downstairs and tries to wake Pete up. Melly must have hit him pretty hard; he's out cold. She tries shaking him and hitting him and yelling, but none of it succeeds. She sighs and takes his keys from his pocket, then goes out to his car and gets the Chinese food.

Claudia's careful to only eat the food she ordered, though she wishes now that she had ordered more, because Pete is bound to be hungry when he wakes up. It's already late, but she figures they shouldn't stick around, at least not in Melly's house, but her attempt to lift Pete doesn't go well, so she's stuck there anyways. She's still awake at a very late hour of the night eating vegetable lo mein when he wakes up.

"Have a nice nap?" He groans in response, then suddenly looks more alert. "She hit me, didn't she? _Damn, _that girl has a good arm."

"Artifact: snagged, bagged, and tagged," Claudia says, holding up the silver bag. "I think we're done here."

"Yeah, probably," he agrees, then checks his watch. "Man, I was out for a while."

"Yep. I figured I should stick around, you know, just in case."

"Wait, if it's bagged, then maybe-"

Claudia shakes her head, a grief in her eyes making her look older than she is. "I already called Artie. Nothing changed."

"So...we should go back to see that rat; what's his name?"

"I don't know. I didn't catch it. I don't think he knows how to bring her back, Pete."

His frustration is clearly shining through. "But there is a way. I'm sure of it! There might be a price - there's always a price - but we'll pay it, Claude, and we'll get through this. She's family, and we _are _getting her back." Claudia wants to believe him, she truly does, but he seems so hopeless himself that it's hard.

She just nods and says, "Yeah," because it's getting pretty late and she doesn't feel like arguing. "Well, what do you say we check into a hotel, if they're still open, and drive back in the morning?"

He nods. "The hotels won't let you check in this late, but I have a room in one, and it's got a couch."

She smiles gratefully. "Thanks. I'm exhausted."

"Long day," he agrees.

.:.

Pete lies in bed, unable to sleep. She can't be gone. He knows now that he loves her, that he needs her, but it's too late. He knows it, and he knows Claudia knows it. She's like his little sister, and he just wishes he could protect her from all this. He loves her, too, only in a much different way than he knows that he loves Myka now. He wants things to be like they were.

There's one last thing he has to do before he can go home, before he can do much of anything, including, apparently, sleep. He waits until Claudia's sound asleep, then gets up and scrawls a little note for her on a post-it.

_I couldn't sleep, so I went home early. Don't worry about me.  
Later, Pete_

He pulls on his coat and grabs his gun.

.:.

It's well after midnight by the time Pete reaches Featherhead again. In fact, it's much closer to 3 in the morning, nearly three thirty. He looks at the little pawn shop. The lights are off, the door is locked, and it looks empty. Pete knows looks can be deceiving, but he doesn't think they are in this case. He left the man broken and bleeding in his own shop; he most likely called an ambulance, if not the police. And at three, even if he isn't in the hospital, he would probably be at a home, and Pete doesn't have the slightest idea where this guy lives. Hell, he doesn't even know his name.

It's now, sitting in his car at three in a city hours from home, that he realizes he's completely exhausted from the day's events. He's not sure that he can make it back to the Warehouse. There'll be time to go back, _after_ he's got what he came here for. So he unloads his gun and puts it on the floor, then unbuckles his seatbelt and stretches out as best he can in the car, which, while being large enough, is not made to hold a fully grown man stretched out. It's not all that comfortable, but he makes do with what he's got.

.:.

Morning comes far too fast for his taste, and when he opens his eyes, he blinks blankly for a few minutes before he remembers why he's sleeping in Myka's car outside a pawn shop in Featherhead. Luckily for him, the store is open now, and he can clearly see the man from yesterday through the window. He can tell the man can see him, too, when he catches his eyes with a panicked and fearful look. Pete looks down for a moment before going in, hoping the man doesn't see him reaching for his gun. As well as his gun, which he puts in his holster, he finds his cell phone and is surprised to find that Claudia has texted him a bunch. He hopes he didn't worry her. He reads the first one.

_Who just up and leaves at 2 in the morning?_

He reads the next one.

_I just called Artie. He says he has no idea where you are and you didn't get in._

And the next one.

_I just payed for the hotel room, so you totally owe me._

And the next one.

_Pete, where are you? Please call me.  
_

He hates to worry his little sister, but he doesn't see any other way to do this. If she knows where he is, she'll try to stop him, and he doesn't know if he can deal with that right now. He needs to do this. This bastard killed her and others, and Pete wants to look him in the eye and tell him why he deserves to die before he shoots him.

Pete runs his fingers over the gun and unbuckles his holster before opening the car door and walking into the junk shop. The man looks at him with pure terror in his eyes, and Pete thinks, _You deserve that, that fear. You give that to people. _He raises the gun first, not bothering to hide it. He knows the other man already knows.

"What's your name?" Pete asks.

The man looks mildly surprised. "T-topher," he stutters. "Topher Brown."

"Alright, Topher," Pete says in a disturbingly calm voice, "you know why I have to do this, don't you?"

"I showed you the thing you feared?" Topher says in a shaky voice that makes what he's saying sound more like a question than a statement.

"Wrong," Pete says as he steps forward menacingly, "try again."

"Well, then, um, I haven't the slightest idea," Topher says, then pushes his glasses back to the top of his nose.

Pete walks Topher back into a wall, and he can almost see the mousey shopkeeper gulp. He presses the gun firmly into Topher's throat. "You took her away," he says in a quieter voice that's much more full of raw anger and hatred than his attempt to be calm. At his words, he pushes the gun harder into Topher's throat, until he's certain the little man must at least be having trouble breathing, if not entirely unable to continue. He finds himself wanting that for a second, then relaxes his arm a bit. He already knows how he's going to kill the other man, and it isn't like that.

Topher looks very confused. "I-I took her..." He drifts off as he realizes what Pete isn't saying. "Oh. You're talking about that other woman you came in here with, yes? Th-the one with the curly hair and green eyes?" He sees Pete's look - absolutely homicidal this time, he's sure of it - and knows he crossed the wrong Secret Service agent. He vaguely wonders what would've happened if he had used the cross on the girl herself but quickly lets go of all thought as the gun presses far too hard for comfort into his throat again.

Then Pete relaxes almost entirely. He doesn't lower the gun, but he backs off a few steps. Topher raises his hands into the air as a sign of surrender. "I know what I did is wrong, but I don't think you're going to kill me. Government agents don'tdo that, and you don't want to bring yourself down to my level, do you?" He counts the fact that Pete doesn't shoot him right then and there as a success and takes a few steps toward the dangerous agent. "You can send me to jail if you want, but I don't think you really want to kill me."

Pete shakes his head. "They don't jail people like you. What would I charge you with? All you made me do was touch a crucifix, butyou ruined everything." He says it with a surprising calmness. "The system wouldn't do anything to you. And, frankly, I don't think you're the best judge of character."

A single, surprisingly loud shot rings through the air, and the young shopkeeper looks down at his chest. He sees a whole lot more blood than before, far too much for him to ever make it to the phone. He crumples to the ground.


	10. Chapter 10

Pete runs hard and fast, suddenly wanting to be as far away from this place as physically possible. He's scared as hell. He doesn't want to be caught. He almost laughs at the irony. _All this guy wanted was to not get caught. Careful, Lattimer, or you'll end up as bad as the bastard himself. _He feels really sick, both mentally and physically, and he pulls over a couple miles out of the small town and throws up on the side of the road. He tries to compose himself, to at least get back on the road, because he has to leave, leave fast. He never wanted to be a killer. Or maybe he did. It's hard, and so many things are unclear now.

He doesn't feel better, doesn't feel like the world is better off for his dishing out justice, and maybe it isn't. Maybe he's just selfish. He knows he needs to text Claudia back, to give her some assurance that he's alive, because she's getting really nervous. He gets another text when he's a few more miles along in his journey, and while he knows that he shouldn't text while driving, he also knows that he shouldn't - can't - stop.

_Pete, please answer me. For all we know, you could be dead in a ditch somewhere. I made it back to the WH okay. When are you coming home?_

He knows he has to answer; he doesn't want her to worry. It's not good for her.

_Yeah, Claude, I'm fine. Don't worry about me. I'll be home in an hour, two at most. _

He hopes that's enough for her. He doesn't know how much more he can do. Things aren't okay, and he's never been the best liar. The only thing that can ever make him feel any better is long gone, and even if he does get Myka back, he doesn't see how she could ever think of even talking with him again, let alone working with him. He's shown that he can do things just as bad as any villain, maybe even worse. How can the Warehouse even take him back after this? Mrs. Frederic might already know, with all her weird powers no one seems to be able to figure out. What would he do then? He has no freaking idea.

He gets another text from Claudia.

_Oh, thank God. Where are you?_

_I'm on the road, _he replies.

_Back to the WH, right? You know, you're showing up surprisingly late for someone who started the ride at 2. Did you stop on the way?_

He knows he can't tell her the whole truth, but he wonders how much of it he can tell her. He doesn't want to flat out lie, but he definitely can't tell her what happened to Topher Brown, not that she's not going to hear about it one way or another anyway. He wonders how long it'll take her to see right through him, to find out exactly what he is.

_Something like that._

He settles for vague but not upsetting.

_Okay, where did you stop?_

Claudia's a bit more insistent than he would like, but he sort of expected that.

_I was nodding off, so I just parked in town and took a snooze._

_What town? There are no towns between Jayville and Univille._

_I was taking more of a roundabout way._

He hopes she stops pushing, just leaves him alone, because he feels like he's going to break any second.

_Was that more roundabout way possibly through Featherhead?_

Dammit, _dammit, _she knows. He should've known that she would. She's always been good at her job.

_I don't know. Possibly._

_Pete, you're a bad liar, even through texts. I heard about it on the news. Apparently his name's Christopher Brown. I recognized him from the picture they showed. You're not a suspect, not yet._

Pete's panicked. He doesn't get how all of this happened, and at the same time, it won't stop playing through his mind.

_That's good, at least. I guess. And his name's Topher. _

_I'm surprised you asked._

He doesn't reply because he doesn't feel like talking about it at all. After a few minutes, she texts again.

_Did it make you feel better?_

He doesn't even have to think about it before answering.

_Made me feel worse._

She doesn't text him again for a couple minutes, and he's grateful for the silence.

_I'm not going to turn you in._

_Why not?_

_I wouldn't do that._

_Maybe you should._

_Just come home. Then we'll talk._

He silently agrees and turns his phone off for the rest of the journey. He doesn't get why she wouldn't blame him. He blames himself. _He_ did it this time, and he deserves any punishment that comes his way. The rest of the car ride is fairly uneventful. The car still feels empty.

.:.

Claudia doesn't know how she feels about all this. Sure, Topher was an idiot. Sure, he deserved whatever hell could come to him. But it isn't up to them to dish out justice, and she knows how wrong what Pete did is. No, she wouldn't have done the same thing, proven by how she didn't. But Pete's family, and she's already lost enough family. She's not ready to lose him, not yet. So she won't turn him in. He just lost himself. He'll come back, be Pete again.

In truth, she's terrified. She doesn't want to be around a murderer, and she can't think of Pete that way. She'll deal, though. There have been many opportunities in her life for her to learn how to lie, and she has. If anyone can pretend things are alright when they aren't, it's Claudia.

She hangs out in the B and B while Leena stresses out and tries to hide it from her. "Pete's on his way back," she informs the innkeeper.

"Good," Leena replies. "You don't think Pete really...do you?"

"No," Claudia lies. "Of course not. Pete wouldn't do that." A day or two ago, she would have believed that with her whole heart. Now, even before Pete confirmed it, she assumed it was him. Now he seems entirely capable of something like that. Leena seems to be vaguely comforted by her lie, though, and that's what's important.

"Of course not," Leena repeats, then nods and goes back to the kitchen to do whatever she was working on before she went into the sitting room.

Claudia is still exhausted from her less than 5 hours of sleep, so she wanders back up to her room intending to catch up on her lost sleep. It's hard for her to get to sleep, though, and when she does, she tosses and turns and doesn't actually get too much rest.

.:.

Artie likes to keep himself separated from his team. He's had many different teams and lost all of them one way or another, and that's taught him that the easiest way to not get hurt is to be mean, to act like he's above them until they stop coming to him for help. This team was different from the start. They were never like employees, or at least not just employees. They've always been like his family, at least in part because they never stop acting like children, so he somehow managed to convince himself that this time it might be different. He'd been so very, very stupid. Of course this family will fall apart. It's been destined since the start. And now it's hard, just as hard as it's been each time, maybe more.

Earlier, he had been around to the B and B for a meal, at Leena's insistence, and he had picked up a newspaper that someone, probably Claudia, had left on the table. He had skimmed the obituaries and seen the phrase "beloved shop owner dead." He knows Claudia knows the truth, too. So does Leena, but she likes to pretend she doesn't. Pretending makes things easier for her, but it's never helped Artie or Claudia. He knows the truth, knows that Pete killed a man, even if he didn't kill Myka.

The real question for Artie is whether he should turn Pete in. Artie's done some pretty questionable things in the past - never looking a man in the eyes and killing him, but he killed plenty of men indirectly during the Cold War. His past makes him more forgiving, even if he can't entirely relate.

He knows the tricks now, knows that he has to focus on fixing or rebuilding whatever he can instead of focusing on what or who's lost. But nothing can make this loss any easier. In fact, it's much harder. The other teams weren't family, not like Myka and Pete and Claudia have become to him in the all too short year he's known them. So he can't turn Pete in. He's become part of the older man's family, and he won't give that up.

.:.

When Pete gets back, he asks for Claudia right away.

Leena gives him a stern look. "She's sleeping. Don't wake her." She says the words like she's daring him to challenge her. He nods and wanders upstairs, wondering if he should get some sleep as well but deciding he wouldn't be able to. He peeks into Claudia's room and sees the young techie sleeping restlessly, her tossing and turning keeping her from getting any real rest. She's obviously having a nightmare, and he blames himself for that. He decides to risk Leena's wrath and gently shakes the redhead awake.

"Hmm? Pete? What are you doing here?" she asks groggily, then seems to get back her understanding of the situation. "Oh. Right. Hi."

"Sorry if you were trying to sleep. It just looked like you were having a nightmare."

"I was."

He tries to leave, but she grabs his arm and pulls him back. "Don't turn yourself in."

He can't say that he hasn't considered it, and while it doesn't sound like the best option for him, it is the right thing to do. And didn't he use to fight for what's right? "Why not?"

"Because it's not your fault," she says. When he gives her a look that clearly tells her how much she's lying with that statement, she amends, "Okay, maybe it is. But that son of a bitch deserved it!"

He shakes his head. "Claude, we can't take the law into our own hands, no matter how much they do or don't deserve it."

"Then why did you?" she challenges him. It's all he can do to hold himself together, to not fall apart right then and there, but he does it for her.

"Maybe I deserve the system, Claude. Maybe I'm a bad man who can't tell right from wrong. Why not send me there if that's where I belong?"

She gives him a perfectly calm look, like she's got this whole thing figured out. "Because you don't belong there. You belong here, at the Warehouse, with us. We need you here. We don't really want to be two agents short. I mean, one is bad enough. So I guess you'll just have to stick around," she finishes like this is the only possible conclusion someone could come to. He lets out a dry chuckle.

"I love you, Claude," he says and kisses her on the top of the head. In his heart, he knows what she says is true. He's still a part of this family, and he needs to stay for them. Maybe he can't make up for the things he's done, but he can still do good things for this world and keep the people who matter to him happy.


	11. Chapter 11

Pete leaves Claudia's room, hoping that she might actually be able to get some good sleep now. He figures he'll head over to the Warehouse next and see what Artie has in store for him. Before he can get out the door, however, Leena stops him.

"I told you not to wake her," Leena says. "Or does what we say even matter anymore?"

"Wha- Of course it matters!"

"Did you kill that man?" she asks, seeming to be more bold when she's angry.

"Leena, I-"

"How do I know she's safe here? How do I know _I'm_ safe here?" she interrupts.

"Leena, I would never hurt you," he says. "_Never._"

"Well, a week ago I would have never believed you could kill a man in cold blood. Times change, Pete, and you're changing, too." These words are the last thing he needs to hear, and he almost winces at them.

"So, what, should I turn myself in?" he asks.

She shakes her head. "No. You're needed here, and it's too late to back out. But if you ever hurt anyone here, you won't be able to go into the justice system. You know what we do to punish people in the Warehouse, and I'm betting you don't want to be another forgotten face in those rows of bronze statues." He's struck by how cold and unemotional her voice is, nothing like usual.

"Noted."

"Good," she says. "You can head to the Warehouse now." She turns away from him again.

.:.

Hours later, Pete is still doing inventory. Artie was not in a particularly good mood, though Pete suspects that that might be at least partly because he already knows. Everyone at the Warehouse seems to agree that he shouldn't turn himself in, but he can't help but wonder what happens if the police find out on their own. All of them found it out easily enough, and he'll be surprised if Topher's store doesn't have some sort of incriminating security feed.

Honestly, trying to figure out this family is tiring. Leena seems to be the only one holding him accountable, which he thinks he deserves. He knows that if Myka were here, she would be yelling and arguing with him even more than usual. Then again, if Myka were here, none of this would've happened in the first place.

He wishes and wants like crazy, but nothing can bring her back. _Nothing?_ he thinks. _I'm in a warehouse full of things that can do the impossible. The very idea that there isn't a single thing here..._ He doesn't finish his thought. He wants Myka - hell, he might just love her - but he doesn't want to start anything like Claudia's resurrection attempt. His family is what's important right now. He has to focus on what's left, not what's lost.

He hates to think of Myka as lost. Before, he couldn't imagine the pain she was going through because of losing Sam. Now that he knows the pain of losing a partner, he wishes he could be ignorant again.

His farnsworth buzzes, and he pulls it out of his back pocket. "Yeah?" he answers.

It's Artie on the other end. "One more task today," he says, getting right to the point with his usual brevity. "Get the artifact from my office, and take it to B67." The older agent hangs up without even saying goodbye, and Pete wishes, not for the first or last time, that he didn't have such a passive aggressive boss.

After walking the entire long journey to Artie's office at the front of the Warehouse, Pete takes the zip line most of the way to the row where he's supposed to shelf the artifact, more because he's tired than anything else, and he hurries to the right row so he can get to the B and B sooner. A single look at the crucifix stops him in his tracks. He holds it up between his index finger and thumb on one of his purple gloved hands.

This is the thing that took away his partner, and he's looking right at it. He knows where it's going to be kept. Why should he put it in its new spot? Someone would find it, touch it during inventory, maybe, or steal it and sell it like MacPherson. Either way, it would be back out in the world, and he can't see how this could turn out well. Someone else could get hurt. Someone else could get killed.

So, really, this won't be selfish. It's not for him. It's for all the people who could get hurt if he doesn't do this. He wants to do it before he or anyone else can give him second thoughts. There are so many artifacts in the Warehouse that can ruin or end lives, and he can't see any possible use for some of them besides pain and suffering. _It's time for this to end,_ Pete decides. _No one else is going to get hurt because of this artifact._

He looks around for something he can use to destroy the artifact. He still has his gun, and some of the artifacts around here can probably do something destructive, but he doesn't see anything else. He puts the artifact down and retreats a couple of feet. After pulling out his gun, he hopes no one is within hearing range and shoots. He hits the crucifix, breaking it beyond repair. He wonders what Myka would think of this. It's not the first time they've destroyed an artifact, but the circumstances are very different this time. They had been out in the field, and it had been immediately life threatening; there hadn't been any other option. He doesn't understand why this time is a bad thing, not really. Just that it's against the rules. He knows the others won't miss the artifact, though, at least not for a little while.

.:.

Leena makes dinner, spaghetti and meatballs, and greets Artie as he comes in. "Will Pete be back for dinner?" she asks the old, tired agent as he takes off his brown jacket.

Artie nods. "Should be here any minute."

She tries to focus only on setting the table, but Artie interrupts her concentration. "So...I heard about-"

"So did I," she stops him. At his look, she adds, "What? You were going to bring up Christopher Brown's death."

"Reading my aura?" he asks.

"Don't have to," she replies. "And yes, Pete did do it."

Artie doesn't ask how she knows his questions this time. He sighs. "Well, I guess we know procedure."

"Do you think we have to follow it?" Leena questions, a tinge of worry in her normally calm voice. "I mean, you'd think there would be some exceptions to the rules."

"Yes, there are, but I don't think this falls under any of them."

"So we don't tell them," she says, and it's not a question. She doesn't want new field agents, doesn't think she's ready to greet new people quite yet. Before Pete and Myka came, it had never been a family, and while letting go of agents was never easy, perhaps it was easier. They still need Pete, and Pete still needs them, and she doesn't see that changing any time soon. And when was the last time she misjudged a person?

"I suppose not," Artie says, answering her anyway. She looks at his aura. His and Claudia's aura's have both been a more troubled, darker shade since Myka's death, and she can see sorrow, grief, and just a little confusion and indecision in Artie's aura and expression.

.:.

Pete joins them for dinner for what is probably the first time since...everything. For the few days before he left for the case, Leena had mostly brought his food up to him, because he wasn't entirely ready to face his friends. He also shared Chinese food with Claudia at midnight, but he doesn't count that. It wasn't eating with the whole group, even Artie, though he often doesn't show up at the B and B.

For a little while, there's just awkward silence. No one really knows what to say, and any brief attempts to fill that silence with meaningless chatter don't work.

"Claudia, help me with the dishes?" the innkeeper asks quietly, not having to talk over anyone today. For once, the redhead gets up without arguing. Leena washes, and Claudia dries. Leena sneaks a look at the subdued girl's aura when she thinks she's not looking. Her normally bright colors have faded drastically and taken on a darker hue, but underneath, she's still the same Claudia.

Leena had barely been able to contain her anger at the shopkeeper when Claudia told her what happened earlier, but she knows she wouldn't - couldn't - do something like this. She just wouldn't have been capable of it. But now she knows Pete is, and she'll be more wary around him in the future.

She thinks of a quote she once heard, _"Poison goes where poison's welcome."_ She just hopes Pete won't welcome it with open arms.

Leena wishes she wasn't so good at reading people, hadn't seen so much darkness in him at dinner that she was afraid to meet his eyes. If only she wasn't so damn good at predicting the paths people will go down, she could just write this off as silly or her worrying too much, but as it is, all she can do is wait and hope that she's wrong.

.:.

Claudia collapses onto her bed after helping with the dishes, only getting up a minute later to work on her latest project. As usual, she finds more comfort in working with technology than people. If anything, everything that's been happening has only brought her antisocial tendencies out more. She sits alone and tinkers with a tesla. She thinks she's almost figured out a way to get rid of the need to charge the steampunky little weapon when she hears a knock at her door.

She carefully tucks her project under her bed before calling out, "Come in!" She's glad the tesla is safely hidden when she sees Artie walk in looking uncomfortable; knowing him, he would disapprove any advances to the Warehouse. Sometimes he acts even older than he is, which is quite a feat at his age.

"Are you okay?" he asks, and she feels a sudden need to do something, anything, to keep from looking him in the eyes. She doesn't want to tell him how much she hates that question. It brings back memories of her parents' deaths, Joshua's apparent death, being bounced around from foster home to foster home, and her time in a mental institution. She learned long ago that people only ask that question because they already know she's not. Hearing that question somehow makes everything worse, takes her back to a time when she had nothing and nobody, but she knows Artie means well, so she tries to unclench her fists and reply. She can't let Artie see her acting weak.

"I'm fine," Claudia mumbles at the ground.

"No, you're not," Artie corrects. He didn't say that last time, when she was seven and didn't have anyone else left. He hadn't said the things that had needed to be said, and then he _left_ her, abandoned her. He's doing it differently this time; maybe he really is learning things.

"No, I'm not," she repeats, her lips almost curling up into a smile. "Why ask a question you already know the answer to?"

"I wanted to hear what you'd say," he lies simply. She's always answered that question the same way. Is there any answer people will accept besides "fine"?

She nods, not pushing the point. Her lips are pressed together, waiting for him to make the next move.

"Claudia," he says, his expression changing, becoming more serious, "Pete, well, um, Pete, he killed that man," he finally manages to stutter out. "The shopkeeper. Christopher Brown."

"I know. He told me," Claudia says, doing her best to keep her face emotionless.

She can tell she succeeded from the look on his face. "And you're okay with that?"

"I-I'm not sure. I mean, he definitely deserved it." She looks at her father figure and mentor with uncertainty. He gently touches her hand. The simple touch calms her down, and she smiles gratefully.

"But it isn't Pete's job to dish out justice in this case. And, Claudia, he killed a man."

She scowls. "I _know._ But tell me, honestly, what would they have done to him? He wasn't on the scenes of the crimes, and how can they prove that touching a cross has anything to do with their deaths?"

He shakes his head. "We hunt artifacts, not people. Besides, the girl, Amelia or whatever, he didn't go after her, too. This was vengeance, not justice, and we certainly do not serve vengeful purposes."

She nods. "I know. And I get it. But we still need him here."

"Of course. We're not sending him away. I just thought you should know."

She wonders how much he can see her relief. "Oh. Well, thanks."

He shuffles out of the room, shutting the door behind him. She knows the underlying meanings of his words.

_Don't trust Pete. He could be dangerous. He's losing sight of what matters and is just focusing on revenge._

She's beginning to wonder if all that might be right.


End file.
